I haven't been writing much this week. I've been busy trying to catch up on my work. That's what happens when your schedule falls by the wayside when summer comes! We've had a very unstructured two weeks now and while it's been fun, I think a little bit of order is, well, in order! Even my cat has gotten lazy. It used to be that on weekends when I deliberately didn't set my alarm, my cat would awaken me at around 4 a.m., because that's about the time I got up on weekdays. While it frustrated me a little on days I wanted to sleep in, I was thankful for his diligence on days when I kept hitting the snooze button too long. When school ended I didn't set my alarm anymore because the cat was doing a very nice job of waking me at the correct hour. Then 4 o'clock became 4:30, then 5, then 5:30, and now this morning I woke him up at 7 o'clock! Guess it's time to go back to using my alarm clock - if for no other reason than to re-train my cat.
On Sunday we had a birthday dinner for Tom's girlfriend, Sam. Tom cooked a spaghetti dinner complete with garlic bread. It was very good. Tom put candles that said "93" on her cake. We're not sure why, but he said he thought it would be funny. I'll bet Sam will find it a lot less amusing when she really does turn 93!
Andy decided that he wanted to go bowling for his birthday this Friday. He didn't want a regular birthday party, just for the family to go bowling. We are coming back home afterwards for cake and ice cream. We are looking forward to it, as we always enjoy bowling. Can't do it very well, but we have fun!
On Monday afternoon Jerry, Andy and I went to lunch at Red, Hot & Blue. Andy had three certificates for a free kid's meal and they were due to expire this week, so we figured we would use them. It was, well, an experience. Between waiting forever to be seated, the waitress forgetting us, and our food, I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon. Andy had gotten the coupons from school where they were given for honor roll and graduation. It stated on the coupon that the value of the coupon was $4.99, so I thought that maybe we could just take that amount off of our total since all three of us were eating, but the waitress said that we couldn't do that. We had to get kid's meals and nothing else, and furthermore, the coupons couldn't even be used for carryout - they had to be used eating in the restaurant only. What I decided to do was to let Andy get what he wanted from the regular menu, and then when we were just about finished eating, I ordered three kid's meals - and then asked the waitress to please bring boxes so that we could take them home. So, guess what Andy had for dinner that night?!
I recently read in a book that God doesn't like it when we complain. I can understand this because when we pray we ask "Thy will be done", meaning that we will accept whatever His will for us is, and we are to know that what He does in our lives is what He thinks best - but then when we let Him do His will, we complain about what we get! Driving home from the restaurant, I told Jerry that I was REALLY struggling not to complain. I wondered how such a bad experience could have been His will. I said that maybe He was trying to teach us patience. Jerry thought a minute, then decided that He was trying to teach us not to go to that restaurant ever again! If that's the case, we learned that lesson well!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Oh, the irony! This story made me chuckle yesterday. Hmm....if I had all that done, I too could be Miss World. Then again with plastic surgery, anybody could! Doesn't this totally defeat the point of a beauty contest?!
It figures that we have had a very long dry spell just when we're anxiously waiting to see how our drainfields will behave. We are watching the septic tank the way some people watch nighttime television. "Checked the tank?" has become the greeting whenever Jerry walks in the door. I should probably stop that. Not exactly the greeting a man expects when he returns home from work! I feel sorry for Jerry right now. He is working in the heat on a metal roof down the street from us. It's not the whole house, though. The metal is being put on a little round part near the roof just for decoration, but it's really not appropriate for it considering the fact that the house is right on the water and the salt water will quickly erode the aluminum that he's putting on. Oh, well. That's what the homeowner and the builder insisted on, so Jerry's doing his job.
You can definitely tell that summer is here. The boys have been staying up late and playing games and watching television together. It makes me reminisce when I hear them laughing at 1 o'clock in the morning because I remember when my sister and I used to do the very same thing during the summer. We would get so tired and everything would seem funny! Inevitably a parent would come out to tell us to quiet down and go to bed, but boy did we giggle! At the dumbest things, too! For some reason we found playing with our dog, Porky, immensely amusing at about 2 a.m.. A tired brain will find just about anything amusing.
I keep telling myself that SOON we'll be in West Virginia. It can't be SOON enough! Well, I talked about being pruned. Snip! There goes another bad limb. I have a feeling I'll be left here until I learn to handle situations instead of stewing in frustration about them. So, I'd better start dealing with stuff or I'll be stuck here forever!
It figures that we have had a very long dry spell just when we're anxiously waiting to see how our drainfields will behave. We are watching the septic tank the way some people watch nighttime television. "Checked the tank?" has become the greeting whenever Jerry walks in the door. I should probably stop that. Not exactly the greeting a man expects when he returns home from work! I feel sorry for Jerry right now. He is working in the heat on a metal roof down the street from us. It's not the whole house, though. The metal is being put on a little round part near the roof just for decoration, but it's really not appropriate for it considering the fact that the house is right on the water and the salt water will quickly erode the aluminum that he's putting on. Oh, well. That's what the homeowner and the builder insisted on, so Jerry's doing his job.
You can definitely tell that summer is here. The boys have been staying up late and playing games and watching television together. It makes me reminisce when I hear them laughing at 1 o'clock in the morning because I remember when my sister and I used to do the very same thing during the summer. We would get so tired and everything would seem funny! Inevitably a parent would come out to tell us to quiet down and go to bed, but boy did we giggle! At the dumbest things, too! For some reason we found playing with our dog, Porky, immensely amusing at about 2 a.m.. A tired brain will find just about anything amusing.
I keep telling myself that SOON we'll be in West Virginia. It can't be SOON enough! Well, I talked about being pruned. Snip! There goes another bad limb. I have a feeling I'll be left here until I learn to handle situations instead of stewing in frustration about them. So, I'd better start dealing with stuff or I'll be stuck here forever!
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Running From The Gardener
prune (proon), v. 1. to rid or clear of anything superfluous or undesirable.
I now understand why I have been so tired lately. I have been running away from pruning shears. For some time now I have been growing increasingly discontent with people and situations around me. Sometimes discontent turned to anger and actual bitterness toward people, namely my closest neighbors. They were inconsiderate. They were disrespectful. They were ....(fill in the blank here with anything derogatory). I prayed about this. A lot. But nothing changed. They were still inconsiderate. I was still resentful. Why didn't He change them? Didn't He know how miserable they were making me?
I finally reached a breaking point and told Him that I really couldn't deal with this anymore. It was then, while on my knees admitting defeat, that I realized that I hadn't once apologized to Him for my bitterness. My neighbors were His children, too, just as I was. Would I like it if I had a child who felt contempt and bitterness toward a sibling who was also one of my children? Of course not. I am not proud of how long it took me to change my prayer from "Change them, Lord", to "Change me, Lord". I was one who needed to be more tolerant, patient and understanding. That was why having peace with my neighbors was so elusive. I was asking for the wrong thing the whole time, and God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that if He changed them, I would learn nothing, and could not grow. Thus began my pruning.
My neighbors may or may not change; all I need to concern myself with is being the child that He wants me to be.
Being pruned is being disciplined, but who is doing the pruning is what makes all the difference. Some parents will discipline a child, but it's really just a control issue; it's not about the child at all, and the only thing to grow out of that will be resentment. But some parents will discipline out of love and concern for that child, and out of that will grow patience, love and understanding.
So now I see what a tangly vine I have become, and that I cannot grow if I am not properly pruned. And I am quite sure He's not finished just yet, either! That's okay though, because I know that what comes afterwards will be much better. But, oh! those pruning shears are sharp!
He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and He prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. - John 15:2
But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness. - Galatians 5:22
I now understand why I have been so tired lately. I have been running away from pruning shears. For some time now I have been growing increasingly discontent with people and situations around me. Sometimes discontent turned to anger and actual bitterness toward people, namely my closest neighbors. They were inconsiderate. They were disrespectful. They were ....(fill in the blank here with anything derogatory). I prayed about this. A lot. But nothing changed. They were still inconsiderate. I was still resentful. Why didn't He change them? Didn't He know how miserable they were making me?
I finally reached a breaking point and told Him that I really couldn't deal with this anymore. It was then, while on my knees admitting defeat, that I realized that I hadn't once apologized to Him for my bitterness. My neighbors were His children, too, just as I was. Would I like it if I had a child who felt contempt and bitterness toward a sibling who was also one of my children? Of course not. I am not proud of how long it took me to change my prayer from "Change them, Lord", to "Change me, Lord". I was one who needed to be more tolerant, patient and understanding. That was why having peace with my neighbors was so elusive. I was asking for the wrong thing the whole time, and God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that if He changed them, I would learn nothing, and could not grow. Thus began my pruning.
My neighbors may or may not change; all I need to concern myself with is being the child that He wants me to be.
Being pruned is being disciplined, but who is doing the pruning is what makes all the difference. Some parents will discipline a child, but it's really just a control issue; it's not about the child at all, and the only thing to grow out of that will be resentment. But some parents will discipline out of love and concern for that child, and out of that will grow patience, love and understanding.
So now I see what a tangly vine I have become, and that I cannot grow if I am not properly pruned. And I am quite sure He's not finished just yet, either! That's okay though, because I know that what comes afterwards will be much better. But, oh! those pruning shears are sharp!
He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and He prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. - John 15:2
But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness. - Galatians 5:22
Monday, June 20, 2005
Bathing With Abandon Once More!
Whew! I was beginning to suffer Internet withdrawal. My dependence on it is shameful, but I really use it for lots of things! Yesterday Jerry's brother came here and he and Jerry fixed our drainfields. Fixed the cable, too. Right in half. Anyway, it has now been fixed and so have our drainfields. If we have a problem now, we might as well just give up. We thought they were trying to dig to China!
I am feeling much better about myself these days, too. Thank goodness! Do you think the magnitude of my mood swings is scary? Yeah - me too!
I am feeling much better about myself these days, too. Thank goodness! Do you think the magnitude of my mood swings is scary? Yeah - me too!
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Is This What Middle Age Is?!
This week has been, well, interesting. I'm not sure if it's a combination of feeling like I'm coming down with something, the relief (but yet sadness) of the school year ending, or *that* time - but whatever it is, I have been in a major mood these past few days. I'm not grouchy, I'm just too. I feel too fat. I feel too ugly. My hair is too nappy. My clothes are too frumpy. My peeling skin is too itchy. Even my feet are too ugly to wear cute sandals. Yes, it's gotten that bad! I haven't been writing because I was too embarrassed to express these things, but then I remembered the whole reason for having this blog in the first place - to share what's going on in my life. And this has been it. My negative feelings about myself have been overshadowing my days, and frankly, I'm getting a little tired of it! This morning I was thinking about these things and started examining them one by one.
My hair - well, there's absolutely nothing I can do about the texture of it. It's nappy, curly sometimes, frizzy others, and basically has a mind of it's own. I am in the middle of the dreaded growing-out stage right now too, which doesn't help matters. I am growing it out again as Jerry has said he likes it when it is longer, and I do too. But because I was feeling frumpy once before, I kept cutting it short so that I could be more "fashionable". Fashionable, shmashionable. I need to just be me and do what I like. After all, it's my head!
As far as the frumpy clothes, during these past child-raising and staying-at-home years I never felt the need for anything more than jeans and a T-shirt which were practical for what my days held. Then when I did decide to try something a little nicer, the reality of my size jumped out at me and made me hastily retreat back into my comfort zone, which is jeans and a T-shirt! I did make a leap, though, and ordered some new things online from Fashion Bug and I must say that I am beginning to like some of my choices. One obstacle has been the fact that everyone has gotten so used to seeing me in my "old faithfuls" that they are just as surprised as me when I change things a bit. Yesterday I needed to go to the store so I decided to wear a new outfit that I had gotten. I walked downstairs to tell the boys that I was getting ready to leave when they both stopped what they were doing and stared at me. Then Tom informed me that the ties at the bottom of my capri pants (which I rather liked) had to go, that my shirt should be a different color, and did I have any Birkenstock-type sandals rather than the ones I was wearing? This from the kid with piercings and a tattoo. I put my chin up a little higher and informed him that I liked what I was wearing, and that was that.
As far as my feet go, well, I've come to the conclusion that this is what I was born with (just like my hair), and that's the way it is. My earliest memories are of a childhood friend making fun of my feet, and actually asking me to remove my shoes when people would come over so that she could show them my "awful-looking feet". Then my own family used to tease me about how I should have webs between my toes because of the space between them! I have always been self-conscious about my feet, but lately I have been looking around and noticed that there are people whose feet are a lot worse than mine, and they are wearing what they choose to wear. I have decided that this is what the good Lord gave me, and if I see a pair of shoes that I like, I'm going to wear them. For me.
This blog really is therapeutic! I feel like I have made major progress climbing out of this hole of negative self-thoughts just by writing this! I do know that I need to lose weight - that's just a health and feeling better and common sense thing. Besides, I do know that I feel much better when I exercise. And I will do so - but I will also enjoy the journey that I'm on right now.
My hair - well, there's absolutely nothing I can do about the texture of it. It's nappy, curly sometimes, frizzy others, and basically has a mind of it's own. I am in the middle of the dreaded growing-out stage right now too, which doesn't help matters. I am growing it out again as Jerry has said he likes it when it is longer, and I do too. But because I was feeling frumpy once before, I kept cutting it short so that I could be more "fashionable". Fashionable, shmashionable. I need to just be me and do what I like. After all, it's my head!
As far as the frumpy clothes, during these past child-raising and staying-at-home years I never felt the need for anything more than jeans and a T-shirt which were practical for what my days held. Then when I did decide to try something a little nicer, the reality of my size jumped out at me and made me hastily retreat back into my comfort zone, which is jeans and a T-shirt! I did make a leap, though, and ordered some new things online from Fashion Bug and I must say that I am beginning to like some of my choices. One obstacle has been the fact that everyone has gotten so used to seeing me in my "old faithfuls" that they are just as surprised as me when I change things a bit. Yesterday I needed to go to the store so I decided to wear a new outfit that I had gotten. I walked downstairs to tell the boys that I was getting ready to leave when they both stopped what they were doing and stared at me. Then Tom informed me that the ties at the bottom of my capri pants (which I rather liked) had to go, that my shirt should be a different color, and did I have any Birkenstock-type sandals rather than the ones I was wearing? This from the kid with piercings and a tattoo. I put my chin up a little higher and informed him that I liked what I was wearing, and that was that.
As far as my feet go, well, I've come to the conclusion that this is what I was born with (just like my hair), and that's the way it is. My earliest memories are of a childhood friend making fun of my feet, and actually asking me to remove my shoes when people would come over so that she could show them my "awful-looking feet". Then my own family used to tease me about how I should have webs between my toes because of the space between them! I have always been self-conscious about my feet, but lately I have been looking around and noticed that there are people whose feet are a lot worse than mine, and they are wearing what they choose to wear. I have decided that this is what the good Lord gave me, and if I see a pair of shoes that I like, I'm going to wear them. For me.
This blog really is therapeutic! I feel like I have made major progress climbing out of this hole of negative self-thoughts just by writing this! I do know that I need to lose weight - that's just a health and feeling better and common sense thing. Besides, I do know that I feel much better when I exercise. And I will do so - but I will also enjoy the journey that I'm on right now.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Let Summer Begin!
Summer vacation officially started this afternoon. Even though Andy's graduation was yesterday, today was actually the last day of school for students, but fifth graders didn't have to go if they didn't want to. Andy wanted to go in for a while to give the teachers their gifts. We gave a gift to each of the teachers that he has had since he has been in this school (with the exception of first and third grade because the teachers he had are no longer there). I wasn't able to get a picture of Andy with his kindergarten teacher because she was in a meeting. When we got to school we noticed that the lights were out and it was incredibly hot in the building. It turns out that the air conditioning was not working - on the hottest day of the year so far! It was pretty miserable in there. It seems so strange that we have been counting down the days and yet now we are surprised that this day has finally come!
Monday, June 13, 2005
Pomp and Circumstance (and tears!)
Well, it's official. Andy graduated from elementary school this morning. I didn't cry like I thought I would, but I did choke up and hold it back to the point that I gave myself a headache! We told Andy he could choose any lunch he wanted on his special day. At first he wanted to go to Outback, but then changed his mind and wanted to order from Dominos. We so seldom order out anymore that this is actually a treat! Right now we are waiting for our huge order to arrive.
At graduation they showed a video that was made of all the different activities that the fifth graders did during the year. It was very nice. It was accompanied by music and so between the music and the pictures, it is quite a tearjerker! Each of the fifth graders got their own copy of the movie as a graduation gift. Andy has already watched his and we have only been home a short while. Well, I'm off to take some Tylenol now and go hug my graduate again!
At graduation they showed a video that was made of all the different activities that the fifth graders did during the year. It was very nice. It was accompanied by music and so between the music and the pictures, it is quite a tearjerker! Each of the fifth graders got their own copy of the movie as a graduation gift. Andy has already watched his and we have only been home a short while. Well, I'm off to take some Tylenol now and go hug my graduate again!
Friday, June 10, 2005
FRIDAY!!!!!
I LOVE Fridays. After this week I will either love them more, or love all days of the week the way I currently love Friday! Andy has two more days - and they are half-days at that. Monday is graduation. Tuesday is a day when fifth graders can attend school, but don't have to. Andy wants to go, though, because the gym teacher told them they would be playing his favorite game on that day.
I have a feeling that Monday is going to be an emotional wringer for me. I know this because yesterday while just reading about the graduation in a teacher's newsletter, I started choking up. Oh, well. I think I would rather feel things as deeply as I do than not be sensitive to things at all. Gets expensive buying tissues, though!
My sunburn is healing nicely. I'm still using after-sun cream about five times a day or the itching and burning feeling will drive me crazy. I told Andy we could go back to the beach soon, but you can bet I will be wearing sunblock on my overexposed anatomy!
In a previous blog I wrote about Jerry's mom, Jerry, Andy and I going to the beach to test my gate key. The reason Jerry's mom was here that day was because she and Jerry went to the farmer's market together. Jerry surprised me by bringing home a beautiful oak table for the kitchen. Jerry and I had looked at the table a few weeks ago when we went thrifting and to the farmer's market (when I got my Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots!). We really liked it but had to think about purchasing it at that time. When Jerry told me that he and his mother were going last week, I jokingly asked if he intended to invite me along. He just looked at me and said "No". Okaaaay...... Actually I couldn't go anyway. My work was behind and I had already told Jerry that I couldn't do anything on Saturday except plant myself at my desk for however long it took me to catch up, so I really didn't mind. It was a wonderful surprise to see the table, and it looks wonderful in our kitchen. The table we were using is so old that we really can't remember where it came from. I believe it was in my family for a while and then got passed around. It was really old, and the legs were very loose. One leg in particular we had fixed several times until there were no more threads left to attach a screw to. Sometimes while we were eating someone would inadvertently hit this table leg and it would jut out at an angle and everyone would have to secure their plate and drink until the offender could push the leg back into place so that the table wasn't sitting at a precarious angle. We have done this for quite a few years now. Isn't it funny the things you get used to and accept as just part of your life?! I plan to post pictures of my beautiful table when I can. Right now it is holding items from my pantry closet because I have turned on the air conditioning. I had to do it. Ninety degrees and sunburn just don't mix. The air conditioning unit is in the attic and last year we discovered that the drip pain wasn't draining too well, and we had a small waterfall into our pantry closet, drenching everything in there. At the time Jerry hadn't put shelves in it yet, and it was more of a utility closet, so basically only umbrellas, bowling balls and gloves and hats got wet, but it still wasn't fun to clean up. When we had the new heat pump put in last fall and the new unit put up there, Jerry said he had to adjust the pipe for the drip pan before we used it this year. Well, I forgot he said this and turned on the air conditioning about two days ago. When he got home he strongly suggested that I remove everything from the closet until he got the proper stuff to fix it, because now there is food stored in there. He got the materials he needed yesterday and plans on fixing it tonight. It figures that nothing has leaked thus far, while my beautiful table holds a gigantic bag of rice (wouldn't that be a mess if it got wet?!), cereal, and various other things that could be really disgusting if they got wet.
I will not bug Jerry about fixing this, though, because he was up all night (literally) tearing out all the carpet in the basement and scrubbing the floor down there. The last rain we had was torrential and the downstairs bathroom flooded, and flooded everything else down there, too. It was a mess. We didn't realize how much had gotten wet until he started taking up the carpet. We also didn't realize that there was a vinyl floor under the carpet. The floor cleaned up nicely. In light of what he went through last night, a few foodstuffs on my beautiful new table is not a big deal.
Jerry is also very tired because he was in Delaware on Monday and Thursday of this week, fixing a sunroom there. He didn't install this one, but there were problems with it so he went over there himself to fix it and make it right. He also had an appointment with an attorney there to get something moving on his trailer. Because the trailer was bought in Delaware, it turns out that everything needs to be legally handled there, as well. He was up all night Wednesday night getting paperwork together for that, then left at 3 a.m. on Thursday morning. This attorney is very positive that something can be done to get Jerry's money back and get rid of this trailer. Basically what it boils down to is that the trailer was built wrong, is over the legal size limit, and Jerry runs the risk of being ticketed every time he puts it on the road, not to mention the tires he goes through because a little more of the rubber burns off the backs every time he uses it, because of rubbing on the oversized frame.
Well, enough blogging for now. I have to get some work done, and it's about time for more after-sun lotion for my reddened, parched skin!
I have a feeling that Monday is going to be an emotional wringer for me. I know this because yesterday while just reading about the graduation in a teacher's newsletter, I started choking up. Oh, well. I think I would rather feel things as deeply as I do than not be sensitive to things at all. Gets expensive buying tissues, though!
My sunburn is healing nicely. I'm still using after-sun cream about five times a day or the itching and burning feeling will drive me crazy. I told Andy we could go back to the beach soon, but you can bet I will be wearing sunblock on my overexposed anatomy!
In a previous blog I wrote about Jerry's mom, Jerry, Andy and I going to the beach to test my gate key. The reason Jerry's mom was here that day was because she and Jerry went to the farmer's market together. Jerry surprised me by bringing home a beautiful oak table for the kitchen. Jerry and I had looked at the table a few weeks ago when we went thrifting and to the farmer's market (when I got my Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots!). We really liked it but had to think about purchasing it at that time. When Jerry told me that he and his mother were going last week, I jokingly asked if he intended to invite me along. He just looked at me and said "No". Okaaaay...... Actually I couldn't go anyway. My work was behind and I had already told Jerry that I couldn't do anything on Saturday except plant myself at my desk for however long it took me to catch up, so I really didn't mind. It was a wonderful surprise to see the table, and it looks wonderful in our kitchen. The table we were using is so old that we really can't remember where it came from. I believe it was in my family for a while and then got passed around. It was really old, and the legs were very loose. One leg in particular we had fixed several times until there were no more threads left to attach a screw to. Sometimes while we were eating someone would inadvertently hit this table leg and it would jut out at an angle and everyone would have to secure their plate and drink until the offender could push the leg back into place so that the table wasn't sitting at a precarious angle. We have done this for quite a few years now. Isn't it funny the things you get used to and accept as just part of your life?! I plan to post pictures of my beautiful table when I can. Right now it is holding items from my pantry closet because I have turned on the air conditioning. I had to do it. Ninety degrees and sunburn just don't mix. The air conditioning unit is in the attic and last year we discovered that the drip pain wasn't draining too well, and we had a small waterfall into our pantry closet, drenching everything in there. At the time Jerry hadn't put shelves in it yet, and it was more of a utility closet, so basically only umbrellas, bowling balls and gloves and hats got wet, but it still wasn't fun to clean up. When we had the new heat pump put in last fall and the new unit put up there, Jerry said he had to adjust the pipe for the drip pan before we used it this year. Well, I forgot he said this and turned on the air conditioning about two days ago. When he got home he strongly suggested that I remove everything from the closet until he got the proper stuff to fix it, because now there is food stored in there. He got the materials he needed yesterday and plans on fixing it tonight. It figures that nothing has leaked thus far, while my beautiful table holds a gigantic bag of rice (wouldn't that be a mess if it got wet?!), cereal, and various other things that could be really disgusting if they got wet.
I will not bug Jerry about fixing this, though, because he was up all night (literally) tearing out all the carpet in the basement and scrubbing the floor down there. The last rain we had was torrential and the downstairs bathroom flooded, and flooded everything else down there, too. It was a mess. We didn't realize how much had gotten wet until he started taking up the carpet. We also didn't realize that there was a vinyl floor under the carpet. The floor cleaned up nicely. In light of what he went through last night, a few foodstuffs on my beautiful new table is not a big deal.
Jerry is also very tired because he was in Delaware on Monday and Thursday of this week, fixing a sunroom there. He didn't install this one, but there were problems with it so he went over there himself to fix it and make it right. He also had an appointment with an attorney there to get something moving on his trailer. Because the trailer was bought in Delaware, it turns out that everything needs to be legally handled there, as well. He was up all night Wednesday night getting paperwork together for that, then left at 3 a.m. on Thursday morning. This attorney is very positive that something can be done to get Jerry's money back and get rid of this trailer. Basically what it boils down to is that the trailer was built wrong, is over the legal size limit, and Jerry runs the risk of being ticketed every time he puts it on the road, not to mention the tires he goes through because a little more of the rubber burns off the backs every time he uses it, because of rubbing on the oversized frame.
Well, enough blogging for now. I have to get some work done, and it's about time for more after-sun lotion for my reddened, parched skin!
Monday, June 06, 2005
Feels Like Summer Now!
I was beginning to think summer wasn't going to get here - not that I was complaining - but it sure arrived today! Actually yesterday was very warm too, but I didn't feel it as much. I took Andy and his friend Kody to the beach here. Kody's mom came along too, and we had a very nice afternoon. I look like a lobster today and am in extreme pain, but we had a very nice afternoon! It wasn't so pleasant today, though, when I was outside at Andy's school from 9:30 until 12:00 for his field day. It was very hot today, and my sunburn wasn't feeling too pleasant at all in the heat. Knowing that we were going to the beach on Sunday, we went Saturday afternoon to make sure my gate key still worked (it got stuck in the lock last year and took some doing to get it free!). Jerry's mom was here and so Jerry, his mom, Andy and I went to try my key and then decided to stay and walk the beach for a while. Andy and I always look for shark teeth when we go, and we usually find a few small ones. Jerry has never even been to this beach even though we have lived here 10 years this summer, and as he was just walking along kicking through some shells, he found a HUGE shark tooth. I have never found one this large at our beach. Of course, he had to brag about what a good shark tooth hunter he was all day. He called the little things I found "minnow teeth"!
Friday's luau at Andy's school was a lot of fun. Everything had a Hawaiian theme. Even the childrens' names were translated into Hawaiian and they were given name tags with their Hawaiian names. They were originally supposed to have field day Friday morning and then the luau in the afternoon, but field day was postponed until today because of rain. Andy will be graduating next Tuesday. I am very sure that I will cry, and for once I don't care who sees me! This is my baby here, and I am not ready to see him grow up.
My blogs have been short because I haven't had much time for anything between being at school just about every day and then trying to catch up on my work at night. Well, now I must go relieve my sunburn by taking a cool shower and then slathering myself with sunburn relief gel. You'd think someone who typed about patients with skin cancer would know better.....!
Friday's luau at Andy's school was a lot of fun. Everything had a Hawaiian theme. Even the childrens' names were translated into Hawaiian and they were given name tags with their Hawaiian names. They were originally supposed to have field day Friday morning and then the luau in the afternoon, but field day was postponed until today because of rain. Andy will be graduating next Tuesday. I am very sure that I will cry, and for once I don't care who sees me! This is my baby here, and I am not ready to see him grow up.
My blogs have been short because I haven't had much time for anything between being at school just about every day and then trying to catch up on my work at night. Well, now I must go relieve my sunburn by taking a cool shower and then slathering myself with sunburn relief gel. You'd think someone who typed about patients with skin cancer would know better.....!
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Busy Days!
Wow - it's been a while since I last wrote. Nothing major has happened, but the day-to-day stuff has been a lot of fun. We didn't do anything over the Memorial Day weekend except stay home and relax. Well, I relaxed a little too much. I stayed up late at night and then slept in late in the mornings instead of working like I should have, so I found myself behind on Monday night. I stayed up until 1 in the morning and then got back up at 4 to finish. I won't let that happen again!
On Monday Andy planted a garden. We had decided that we weren't going to plant anything this year because we didn't want to dig up the yard before selling the house, but since we weren't ready to list it yet anyway and I was just itching to plant something, Jerry finally said we could. Andy and I had to dig the spot by hand with hoes and rakes. We have a rototiller but we can't use it on the side of the house because there are phone and cable wires buried not too deeply there. It was the same spot I had used last year for my garden, so the soil wasn't too hard to dig. I must not be used to physical labor - I have three blisters on my hand from hoeing! I guess that means I definitely need to be outside doing more.
Today I went to the movies with Andy's class (and all of the fifth graders from school). It was really nice. The theater opened just for us and each child got their choice of popcorn or candy, and a drink. We saw Madagascar. It is a very funny movie, and we enjoyed it a lot. There were about 125 fifth graders and they were all very well behaved and glued to the movie screen for the most part. Tomorrow we will be going on the field trip that was rescheduled from last week when it rained (the trip Andy thought he was missing because he was sick!) Andy's teacher asked me today if I could go with them because one of the other parents couldn't make it. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow, though, so we'll see if we actually get to go. On Friday it is the school's field day with games and picnics all day. This is going to be a very busy week.
I have been enjoying the strawberries. I am able to pick a handful each morning, and a couple of days I have gone back out in the evening and picked a few more. I have frozen some, but mostly I eat what I pick! We have to pick them just a little early, otherwise if we wait until they are perfectly ripe, the birds will have beat us to them. We gathered plums today. They are like the strawberries - I need to get to them before the birds and squirrels. We gathered several from the ground and then Jerry climbed up in the tree and shook the branches. We had to run for cover! Getting beaned on the head with a plum hurts! We had let our handicapped cat outside with us but when it started raining plums, he ran faster than I have ever seen a 2.5-legged cat run! I hope to make a deep-dish plum pie. I made one the year before last that was delicious. Last year for some reason we didn't get any plums at all. It was strange. This year we are inundated with them.
I'm glad I planted my mint plants on the bank of the ravine in the back yard. This year new plants came up all over the place! They are truly taking over the bank. I knew mint would spread, but wow!
Well, I guess I should be getting to work now. I have a busy week ahead and definitely do not want to do what I did last week! I thought of a bible verse as I was typing at 4 in the morning because I had slept shamefully late the previous three days -
How long is the lazy man going to lie around? When is he ever going to get up? "I'll just take a short nap," he says, "I'll fold my hands and rest a while." But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber. - Proverbs 6:9-11
On Monday Andy planted a garden. We had decided that we weren't going to plant anything this year because we didn't want to dig up the yard before selling the house, but since we weren't ready to list it yet anyway and I was just itching to plant something, Jerry finally said we could. Andy and I had to dig the spot by hand with hoes and rakes. We have a rototiller but we can't use it on the side of the house because there are phone and cable wires buried not too deeply there. It was the same spot I had used last year for my garden, so the soil wasn't too hard to dig. I must not be used to physical labor - I have three blisters on my hand from hoeing! I guess that means I definitely need to be outside doing more.
Today I went to the movies with Andy's class (and all of the fifth graders from school). It was really nice. The theater opened just for us and each child got their choice of popcorn or candy, and a drink. We saw Madagascar. It is a very funny movie, and we enjoyed it a lot. There were about 125 fifth graders and they were all very well behaved and glued to the movie screen for the most part. Tomorrow we will be going on the field trip that was rescheduled from last week when it rained (the trip Andy thought he was missing because he was sick!) Andy's teacher asked me today if I could go with them because one of the other parents couldn't make it. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow, though, so we'll see if we actually get to go. On Friday it is the school's field day with games and picnics all day. This is going to be a very busy week.
I have been enjoying the strawberries. I am able to pick a handful each morning, and a couple of days I have gone back out in the evening and picked a few more. I have frozen some, but mostly I eat what I pick! We have to pick them just a little early, otherwise if we wait until they are perfectly ripe, the birds will have beat us to them. We gathered plums today. They are like the strawberries - I need to get to them before the birds and squirrels. We gathered several from the ground and then Jerry climbed up in the tree and shook the branches. We had to run for cover! Getting beaned on the head with a plum hurts! We had let our handicapped cat outside with us but when it started raining plums, he ran faster than I have ever seen a 2.5-legged cat run! I hope to make a deep-dish plum pie. I made one the year before last that was delicious. Last year for some reason we didn't get any plums at all. It was strange. This year we are inundated with them.
I'm glad I planted my mint plants on the bank of the ravine in the back yard. This year new plants came up all over the place! They are truly taking over the bank. I knew mint would spread, but wow!
Well, I guess I should be getting to work now. I have a busy week ahead and definitely do not want to do what I did last week! I thought of a bible verse as I was typing at 4 in the morning because I had slept shamefully late the previous three days -
How long is the lazy man going to lie around? When is he ever going to get up? "I'll just take a short nap," he says, "I'll fold my hands and rest a while." But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber. - Proverbs 6:9-11
Thursday, May 26, 2005
12 Days and Counting!
Only 12 more days of school left. I thought that once the end of the year came near, time would slow to a crawl. Instead, it's absolutely flying!
Andy didn't go on his trip on Tuesday. He woke up on Tuesday morning and said he didn't feel well. He looked pale and said he had a headache, but I'm ashamed to say that I thought he just didn't want to go on the trip. Well, I was wrong, because shortly afterwards he made a mad dash for the bathroom to get sick. After a couple of times of this, I figured going to school probably wasn't such a good idea! I can't believe that we managed to have perfect attendance up until just lately, and now he's missed three days, fairly close together. I had intended to go into school to do what I had to do, since Jerry was home because it was raining. I changed my mind, though, when I thought about the fact that Jerry probably wouldn't want to help Andy clean up after getting sick. He's not very good about that, and it usually makes him sick! I called the school and told them I wouldn't be in. I didn't think to tell them why; I just said I wouldn't be able to be there. Later Tuesday night I talked with the mom of one of Andy's friends from class, and she said that I had everyone worried, and they thought something must have been awfully wrong because I hadn't missed a day volunteering in two years, and I hadn't said why I wasn't coming in! I guess it's nice to be missed. I felt terrible about not going in, but Andy came first. He got over it quickly - very quickly! By Tuesday night he was hungry and would have eaten everything in the house if I hadn't made him slow down! It turns out his class trip was postponed because of the rain, so he didn't miss that after all.
I had a great day yesterday. Jerry and I went to two thrift shops and the farmer's market. Well, I went into the thrift shops while Jerry waited outside! Sometimes he likes to go in, but he said he wasn't in the mood for "thrifting" yesterday! I got great stuff! Here's my haul: I got a very nice (new) fleece shirt for myself, a pair of Adidas shorts for Andy, a dress for myself, a Rock 'em Sock 'em robots game, Lord of the Flies book, a Spongebob Squarepants book for Andy, a Playstation 2 game called Harvest Moon, and a lamp. I spent a grand total of $18.00 for all of that! That's it.
I'm not usually a name-brand person, but I know that Adidas stuff holds up well, as Andy is on his second year of Adidas hand-me-downs that Tom wore! I just had to get the Rock 'em Sock 'em robots! They were like a blast from the past! The boys and I had seen an ad for them a long time ago and I had told them how they were around when I was a kid, so naturally when I saw them yesterday I had to get them! The lady working at the thrift shop and I played a round to make sure that both of their heads would pop up the way they were supposed to! We were laughing so hard! (She won!) I had wanted to use Lord of the Flies as part of Andy's reading curriculum later on, so was surprised and pleased to find it yesterday. The Spongebob book was a bonus find! I couldn't believe that I found the Playstation 2 game. Both boys had wanted this game but never got it. We don't think it's ever been played before. It looked brand new; the disk was still shiny with no marks on it at all, and the instruction book was still new and crisp, with everything still neatly in the case. Andy has been playing it since yesterday! He's playing it now while I'm writing this. It is a role-playing game in which you are a farmer trying to save your grandfather's farm from being turned into a theme park, and you have to prove that you can make it a successful farm. It takes a lot of thinking and planning to play the game. For instance, yesterday Andy hatched an egg (you have to remember to put it in the incubator), and then had to raise his chicken by remembering to feed it and bringing it in at night or in the rain. Each day you need to check the weather forecast and plan accordingly; either work on your garden, tend to your animals, or go to town to buy supplies (and like real life, the stores are only open on certain days, and certain hours, so you have to plan this accordingly too!). Well, one of his chickens didn't get brought in out of the rain soon enough and got sick. It figured that he didn't have any animal medicine to give the chicken, and when he went to the store, it was closed. The chicken ended up dying. Then a second chicken died because he was busy tending other things and forgot to feed it. You have to name each of your animals, and he had named these two chickens. I guess he was afraid of getting attached again in case something happened, because today when he got another chicken he named it "832"! When I stopped laughing long enough to ask about that name, he informed me it was because that particular chicken was a lab experiment! Farming in West Virginia should be an adventure! Maybe we'll just stick with growing vegetables.....
Andy didn't go on his trip on Tuesday. He woke up on Tuesday morning and said he didn't feel well. He looked pale and said he had a headache, but I'm ashamed to say that I thought he just didn't want to go on the trip. Well, I was wrong, because shortly afterwards he made a mad dash for the bathroom to get sick. After a couple of times of this, I figured going to school probably wasn't such a good idea! I can't believe that we managed to have perfect attendance up until just lately, and now he's missed three days, fairly close together. I had intended to go into school to do what I had to do, since Jerry was home because it was raining. I changed my mind, though, when I thought about the fact that Jerry probably wouldn't want to help Andy clean up after getting sick. He's not very good about that, and it usually makes him sick! I called the school and told them I wouldn't be in. I didn't think to tell them why; I just said I wouldn't be able to be there. Later Tuesday night I talked with the mom of one of Andy's friends from class, and she said that I had everyone worried, and they thought something must have been awfully wrong because I hadn't missed a day volunteering in two years, and I hadn't said why I wasn't coming in! I guess it's nice to be missed. I felt terrible about not going in, but Andy came first. He got over it quickly - very quickly! By Tuesday night he was hungry and would have eaten everything in the house if I hadn't made him slow down! It turns out his class trip was postponed because of the rain, so he didn't miss that after all.
I had a great day yesterday. Jerry and I went to two thrift shops and the farmer's market. Well, I went into the thrift shops while Jerry waited outside! Sometimes he likes to go in, but he said he wasn't in the mood for "thrifting" yesterday! I got great stuff! Here's my haul: I got a very nice (new) fleece shirt for myself, a pair of Adidas shorts for Andy, a dress for myself, a Rock 'em Sock 'em robots game, Lord of the Flies book, a Spongebob Squarepants book for Andy, a Playstation 2 game called Harvest Moon, and a lamp. I spent a grand total of $18.00 for all of that! That's it.
I'm not usually a name-brand person, but I know that Adidas stuff holds up well, as Andy is on his second year of Adidas hand-me-downs that Tom wore! I just had to get the Rock 'em Sock 'em robots! They were like a blast from the past! The boys and I had seen an ad for them a long time ago and I had told them how they were around when I was a kid, so naturally when I saw them yesterday I had to get them! The lady working at the thrift shop and I played a round to make sure that both of their heads would pop up the way they were supposed to! We were laughing so hard! (She won!) I had wanted to use Lord of the Flies as part of Andy's reading curriculum later on, so was surprised and pleased to find it yesterday. The Spongebob book was a bonus find! I couldn't believe that I found the Playstation 2 game. Both boys had wanted this game but never got it. We don't think it's ever been played before. It looked brand new; the disk was still shiny with no marks on it at all, and the instruction book was still new and crisp, with everything still neatly in the case. Andy has been playing it since yesterday! He's playing it now while I'm writing this. It is a role-playing game in which you are a farmer trying to save your grandfather's farm from being turned into a theme park, and you have to prove that you can make it a successful farm. It takes a lot of thinking and planning to play the game. For instance, yesterday Andy hatched an egg (you have to remember to put it in the incubator), and then had to raise his chicken by remembering to feed it and bringing it in at night or in the rain. Each day you need to check the weather forecast and plan accordingly; either work on your garden, tend to your animals, or go to town to buy supplies (and like real life, the stores are only open on certain days, and certain hours, so you have to plan this accordingly too!). Well, one of his chickens didn't get brought in out of the rain soon enough and got sick. It figured that he didn't have any animal medicine to give the chicken, and when he went to the store, it was closed. The chicken ended up dying. Then a second chicken died because he was busy tending other things and forgot to feed it. You have to name each of your animals, and he had named these two chickens. I guess he was afraid of getting attached again in case something happened, because today when he got another chicken he named it "832"! When I stopped laughing long enough to ask about that name, he informed me it was because that particular chicken was a lab experiment! Farming in West Virginia should be an adventure! Maybe we'll just stick with growing vegetables.....
Monday, May 23, 2005
I'm Human Again!
I feel like a human being again! What a difference a few days can make. I feel like I have been in a haze these last couple of days, but am much better now. My cough is almost a thing of the past - just a little at night (most annoying when I'm trying to get rest!). I actually did two days' worth of work today - I hadn't really done a lot the last few days and didn't want to fall too far behind. The boys cleaned the house for me yesterday so I didn't have that to contend with once I came out of my fog. Now I just need to make sure I don't overdo it just because I feel better. I did that before and got sick all over again. I think I'll wait a couple more days before getting back on the treadmill. Carrying laundry up and down the stairs is still wearing me out, so I don't think walking is what I need right now.
We are wondering if the rain is going to come or not. The clouds and sprinkles have been teasing us all afternoon. We are wondering because Andy has another field trip tomorrow - this one is outdoors, too. They are going to study oysters (arsters!) at a park near here and be on the beach. That would be pretty awful in the rain! I am not going on this trip (thank goodness!). I signed up to go if I was needed, but the teacher told me last week that she already had enough parents to go this time but that she would need me to go to the movies with the class next week. Not a bad thing, huh?! I'll take seeing a movie over staring at arsters in the rain any day. Besides, it would have been very difficult to have to come back from the trip at 1:45 and then do the things I normally do at school on Tuesdays.
Now I need to get stuff ready for tomorrow and put a fire under Andy to get his assigned reading done, then it's off to bed. Four o'clock in the morning comes awfully early. Too early, apparently - lately I haven't been rolling out of bed until about five o'clock! My snooze button is going to protest and just stop working one of these days.
We are wondering if the rain is going to come or not. The clouds and sprinkles have been teasing us all afternoon. We are wondering because Andy has another field trip tomorrow - this one is outdoors, too. They are going to study oysters (arsters!) at a park near here and be on the beach. That would be pretty awful in the rain! I am not going on this trip (thank goodness!). I signed up to go if I was needed, but the teacher told me last week that she already had enough parents to go this time but that she would need me to go to the movies with the class next week. Not a bad thing, huh?! I'll take seeing a movie over staring at arsters in the rain any day. Besides, it would have been very difficult to have to come back from the trip at 1:45 and then do the things I normally do at school on Tuesdays.
Now I need to get stuff ready for tomorrow and put a fire under Andy to get his assigned reading done, then it's off to bed. Four o'clock in the morning comes awfully early. Too early, apparently - lately I haven't been rolling out of bed until about five o'clock! My snooze button is going to protest and just stop working one of these days.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
I am still very much under the weather - actually, under a truck is what it feels like. Instead of resting this week like I should have, I did everything I needed to do, albeit slower than usual, but now I am paying for it. Ever the optimist though, I did discover how to grocery shop in record time yesterday. Have an uncontrollable coughing spell in the middle of a grocery store, and the people will part like the Red Sea - allowing you to get your shopping done in record time. Have another spell at the salad bar and you get first pick of EVERYTHING!
Only once did I get a little embarrassed. I started coughing uncontrollably in the cereal aisle. Then the wheezing started, then my eyes started watering too badly to see where I was going - which really didn't matter anyway as I was standing still, clinging to the grocery cart for dear life. I just couldn't seem to stop coughing, or catch my breath. At this point Jerry quickly left the aisle (no, not because he was embarrassed to be seen with me!) and went to the medicine aisle and got not one, but TWO bags of cough drops. He returned to the cereal aisle where I had been commiserating with Cap'n Crunch and helped me get a cough drop. Had I taken my Robitussin before I left, I would have been fine, but I forgot to take it. In any case, the grocery shopping got done in an amazingly short time!
I know it was silly to go out when I was feeling so badly, but it seems the people in this household think they need to eat on a regular basis. Go figure. And being the stubborn sort, I didn't want Jerry going without me, because I wasn't sure he'd get everything I needed. I have been very stubborn this week, not letting anyone help me with anything. I really need to work on that!
Now I shall go lie down and take a nice 2 or 14 hour nap.
Only once did I get a little embarrassed. I started coughing uncontrollably in the cereal aisle. Then the wheezing started, then my eyes started watering too badly to see where I was going - which really didn't matter anyway as I was standing still, clinging to the grocery cart for dear life. I just couldn't seem to stop coughing, or catch my breath. At this point Jerry quickly left the aisle (no, not because he was embarrassed to be seen with me!) and went to the medicine aisle and got not one, but TWO bags of cough drops. He returned to the cereal aisle where I had been commiserating with Cap'n Crunch and helped me get a cough drop. Had I taken my Robitussin before I left, I would have been fine, but I forgot to take it. In any case, the grocery shopping got done in an amazingly short time!
I know it was silly to go out when I was feeling so badly, but it seems the people in this household think they need to eat on a regular basis. Go figure. And being the stubborn sort, I didn't want Jerry going without me, because I wasn't sure he'd get everything I needed. I have been very stubborn this week, not letting anyone help me with anything. I really need to work on that!
Now I shall go lie down and take a nice 2 or 14 hour nap.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
What a Day!
We had a WONDERFUL day today. Despite my coughing, I still managed to enjoy the trip. We rode on a tour bus - complete with reclining seats and television! The boat ride was very, very nice. I think the class will be talking about this for a long time. At one point while I was just sitting and enjoying the ride, one of the crew asked me to steer. I actually did okay! It took a little getting used to - the boat is 56 feet long and it was difficult to see the front of the boat with the children standing. I only got port and starboard mixed up once, too, but the crew member reminded me. I was supposed to be turning the boat to avoid a crab pot and when he said "starboard", I turned port. Very calmly he leaned over and reminded me. He is British, so actually what he said was "stahbut, deah, stahbut"!
Of course, I forgot to take my Dayquil at lunch time, so I hacked my way through the afternoon, annoying myself and probably everyone around me. There was no water to take them with, either. The dock's bathroom is very, well, limited. They informed us that there was no septic or sewer; just a holding tank. There was a sign on the wall that read "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down". This grossed out a few kids, but most took it in stride!
All in all, it was a wonderful day. I know there will be a lot of tired children (and grown-ups) tonight!
Of course, I forgot to take my Dayquil at lunch time, so I hacked my way through the afternoon, annoying myself and probably everyone around me. There was no water to take them with, either. The dock's bathroom is very, well, limited. They informed us that there was no septic or sewer; just a holding tank. There was a sign on the wall that read "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down". This grossed out a few kids, but most took it in stride!
All in all, it was a wonderful day. I know there will be a lot of tired children (and grown-ups) tonight!
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Anchors *cough* Away! *cough* *hack* *cough*
Not much time for blogging today, between coughing and trying to get some work done. It was a rough night last night - I felt like a cable ad - ALL coughing, ALL the time. Wow, where did that come from?! I must be succumbing to the effects of the Tylenol Cold Nighttime I finally decided to take in order to get some sleep tonight. Guess I'd better hurry and write this before the sedation part kicks in!
I am going with Andy's class on a boat trip tomorrow. The boat is out of St. George's Island and is called The Dee. I am looking forward to it. I am armed with massive amounts of Dayquil, Tom's camera, and an Oscar Mayer Lunchable. All a woman could need, right?!
Jerry's thumb is healing nicely. He's still keeping it bandaged, but it is closing well, with no swelling or signs of infection.
Well, that's all for today's quick update. I am off to bed to try to get some sleep tonight, unlike last night. I wonder how long un til th eme d i cin e w or k s ...............................
I am going with Andy's class on a boat trip tomorrow. The boat is out of St. George's Island and is called The Dee. I am looking forward to it. I am armed with massive amounts of Dayquil, Tom's camera, and an Oscar Mayer Lunchable. All a woman could need, right?!
Jerry's thumb is healing nicely. He's still keeping it bandaged, but it is closing well, with no swelling or signs of infection.
Well, that's all for today's quick update. I am off to bed to try to get some sleep tonight, unlike last night. I wonder how long un til th eme d i cin e w or k s ...............................
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
No Amputation Needed
Well, Jerry's thumb isn't too bad. It's a nasty cut, though. It had already started closing some by the time he got home, although it was still oozing, but we didn't think it would need stitches. When he got home he was very hungry, and dinner was on the table waiting, so he wanted to eat first and clean his hand later. That's when I put my foot down this time! His hand was really dirty from the day's work. Dinner had to wait until his thumb was scrubbed and bandaged. It got a little tricky at one point, though. As he was washing it out, all the color drained out of his face and he said he needed to sit down. I don't think I've ever seen quite that color of whitish-gray before. He got even paler which I didn't think was possible and said that he needed air FAST. I started fanning as fast as I could with a paper that I had grabbed. Then I helped him down the hall to the bedroom and turned the fan on. His color gradually came back, he felt better, and we finally got to eat dinner! This morning his hand is feeling much better. The swelling is down and it doesn't hurt very much now. It was his left thumb, so it didn't affect his eating ability! Last night he had a snack attack at about 8:30 but we didn't have anything here to snack on. He remembered some cookies that he hadn't eaten that his mother had brought to him while he was on the job a couple of days ago and got those. Now that they are gone, I figured I should probably have something in case a snack attack hits again, but I don't think he will like what I made. The only cake mix I had left in the kitchen was for a strawberry cake. There's a reason it's the last mix left. Well, I made it anyway. A starving and/or snack craving man will eat anything, right?! I am making some tortilla chips right now, though, and he will probably like those better. We had bought corn tortillas to make wraps with, but now the lunchmeat is gone and we had several tortillas left over, so I put a little oil on them, salted them, then used the pizza cutter to cut them into triangles and baked them. They are really good! You tend to get creative when payday/grocery shopping day is still four days away!
I am still feeling under the weather and am dreading going to Andy's school this afternoon, as there is an awful lot of walking to do. Andy's classroom is downstairs, and the office and copy room and teacher's mailboxes are all upstairs. I usually try to consolidate everything into one or two trips, but it inevitably happens that a teacher will ask, "Are you going upstairs? Could you please get/run/take/copy this?" I don't tell them that no, I'm not going upstairs - I just go do it. I have been walking on the treadmill every day for the last two weeks, but I take Tuesdays off. I figure the walking upstairs and downstairs and up and down the halls has to count for something. I haven't walked yesterday or today, though. I'm not able to go far without stopping for breath and to cough, so I'll wait until this bug passes by before getting on the treadmill again. As good an excuse as any, huh?!
Had to add this - I was spellchecking this blog before posting it, and it stopped on the word "Jerry's". The suggested replacement for it was "jerky". Hmmm...there are days when the two words could be used synonymously, but today is not one of them!
I am still feeling under the weather and am dreading going to Andy's school this afternoon, as there is an awful lot of walking to do. Andy's classroom is downstairs, and the office and copy room and teacher's mailboxes are all upstairs. I usually try to consolidate everything into one or two trips, but it inevitably happens that a teacher will ask, "Are you going upstairs? Could you please get/run/take/copy this?" I don't tell them that no, I'm not going upstairs - I just go do it. I have been walking on the treadmill every day for the last two weeks, but I take Tuesdays off. I figure the walking upstairs and downstairs and up and down the halls has to count for something. I haven't walked yesterday or today, though. I'm not able to go far without stopping for breath and to cough, so I'll wait until this bug passes by before getting on the treadmill again. As good an excuse as any, huh?!
Had to add this - I was spellchecking this blog before posting it, and it stopped on the word "Jerry's". The suggested replacement for it was "jerky". Hmmm...there are days when the two words could be used synonymously, but today is not one of them!
Monday, May 16, 2005
Oh no - the dreaded cold bug has bitten me. I am starting to feel the first signs of cold yuckiness coming on. Now is definitely not the time to be under the weather. Well, I'll just rest as much as I can, drink a lot of water, take my vitamins and pray that it's over soon! Andy stayed home from school on Friday because he was miserable with a cold that had come on very quickly. It figures - he had perfect attendance up until the end of the year. Now he has missed two days in two weeks. Guess I got this general yuckiness from him. I must remember to thank him.
I watched three children today for my neighbor who has the daycare. She had an inspection at her house and needed me to keep the children while the fire marshall was conducting the routine inspection. Since the inspection was so short, she didn't want to close her daycare all day, and the person who was originally going to watch them wasn't able to come, so guess who got the job?! It was fun, though. I was feeling better this morning when they were here. The yuckiness didn't start coming on with a vengeance until this afternoon. The children were ages 2, 3 and 5. We played, colored, and looked at books. As much as I enjoyed them, I think I will stick with medical transcription!
I was reading Anita's blog about her son's graduation from college. I got teary reading it and thinking about Andy's fifth grade graduation coming up. I know I will be doing some crying on that day. I am so sappy that I cry at certain television commercials, much to the amusement of my all-male household.
I am awaiting seeing Jerry's hand when he comes home from work this afternoon. He had three jobs to go to today and on the way to the third one he called me and asked if we had any peroxide at home. I thought that this was an odd question to ask, so when I said that we did, and asked why he wanted to know, he said he had cut himself on the second job and wanted to know if, when he stopped for bandages, he should also buy some peroxide. I asked if he was coming home, and he answered me as if I were crazy - he was just going to bandage his hand and keep on to the next job. Men. The last time he did this, when he arrived home he was pale and dizzy and the wound was still bleeding, nine hours later. That time I put my foot down and made him go to the emergency room for stitches. He assures me that this wound isn't nearly as bad. We'll see if he comes home anemic or not.
I watched three children today for my neighbor who has the daycare. She had an inspection at her house and needed me to keep the children while the fire marshall was conducting the routine inspection. Since the inspection was so short, she didn't want to close her daycare all day, and the person who was originally going to watch them wasn't able to come, so guess who got the job?! It was fun, though. I was feeling better this morning when they were here. The yuckiness didn't start coming on with a vengeance until this afternoon. The children were ages 2, 3 and 5. We played, colored, and looked at books. As much as I enjoyed them, I think I will stick with medical transcription!
I was reading Anita's blog about her son's graduation from college. I got teary reading it and thinking about Andy's fifth grade graduation coming up. I know I will be doing some crying on that day. I am so sappy that I cry at certain television commercials, much to the amusement of my all-male household.
I am awaiting seeing Jerry's hand when he comes home from work this afternoon. He had three jobs to go to today and on the way to the third one he called me and asked if we had any peroxide at home. I thought that this was an odd question to ask, so when I said that we did, and asked why he wanted to know, he said he had cut himself on the second job and wanted to know if, when he stopped for bandages, he should also buy some peroxide. I asked if he was coming home, and he answered me as if I were crazy - he was just going to bandage his hand and keep on to the next job. Men. The last time he did this, when he arrived home he was pale and dizzy and the wound was still bleeding, nine hours later. That time I put my foot down and made him go to the emergency room for stitches. He assures me that this wound isn't nearly as bad. We'll see if he comes home anemic or not.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Blogs Are Catching!
My friend and neighbor told me a while back that I had inspired her to start a blog of her own. I really enjoy reading it - it's like visiting a friend and finding out the latest about what's going on in their life. I find myself checking her blog often, and looking forward to her latest entry. Here is a link to Anita's blog. She is a lovely lady who has inspired me to be more creative (she is the one who showed me the beautiful scarf she knitted, and made me want to learn). She is such a talented seamstress. Once I was at her house and she showed me a beautiful satin, lavender-colored dress she was sewing for someone. While I oohed and aahed over how wonderful the dress was, she showed me the picture that she was sewing it from. No pattern - just a picture from a fashion magazine. Now that's talent!
I think Andy feels the way I do about him taking Family Life. Last night out of the blue he said "Mom, I wish you had kept me out of Family Life class". We were given the option before the class started of keeping our child out of the class if we didn't want them to take it. I probably would have kept him out if I hadn't already seen the material that they were going to learn. The majority was based on health issues and not a lot on, well, uh, other issues. When I asked Andy why he wished he wasn't taking it, he said because he really didn't think he needed to know the proper names for "those parts"!
As I was filing papers at school on Tuesday, I had to file worksheets that the girls in the class had worked on in Family Life. (Girls and boys are separated for the classes, with the male vice principal and gym teacher teaching the boys, and female teachers teaching the girls). Not having seen the girls' material, I looked at one of the worksheets that I was about to file, and had to work very hard to stifle my laughter. The worksheet was on germs, and taking care of ourselves and keeping ourselves healthy. One of the items was to "List three things that you can do to keep yourself and your family healthy". This little girl had a very interesting list. Her three things were, "Wash my hands often", "Keep myself and my clothes clean", and last was "Tell my dad to use a tissue when he digs up his nose". I almost fell over trying not to laugh! I wonder if "Dad" knows that she shared this?!
I think Andy feels the way I do about him taking Family Life. Last night out of the blue he said "Mom, I wish you had kept me out of Family Life class". We were given the option before the class started of keeping our child out of the class if we didn't want them to take it. I probably would have kept him out if I hadn't already seen the material that they were going to learn. The majority was based on health issues and not a lot on, well, uh, other issues. When I asked Andy why he wished he wasn't taking it, he said because he really didn't think he needed to know the proper names for "those parts"!
As I was filing papers at school on Tuesday, I had to file worksheets that the girls in the class had worked on in Family Life. (Girls and boys are separated for the classes, with the male vice principal and gym teacher teaching the boys, and female teachers teaching the girls). Not having seen the girls' material, I looked at one of the worksheets that I was about to file, and had to work very hard to stifle my laughter. The worksheet was on germs, and taking care of ourselves and keeping ourselves healthy. One of the items was to "List three things that you can do to keep yourself and your family healthy". This little girl had a very interesting list. Her three things were, "Wash my hands often", "Keep myself and my clothes clean", and last was "Tell my dad to use a tissue when he digs up his nose". I almost fell over trying not to laugh! I wonder if "Dad" knows that she shared this?!
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Reflections
Andy got his yearbook yesterday. I was amazed and a little saddened at how quickly everyone is growing up. It made me start thinking about the past, and thinking about how I can clearly see God's hand in so much of my life, even though I didn't know it at the time. Strangely enough, most of the time it was in the form of unanswered prayers or wishes on my part. The things I thought I wanted or needed turned out not to be what was right for me at all. The things that I did get turned out to be the right things. Sometimes it was possessions, sometimes circumstances, but I know now that had everything gone the way I wanted it to, I would be in a really big mess! Now it's wonderful having faith in knowing that what I'm given is exactly the right thing for me, whether good or bad. And not worrying about tomorrow, or a thousand tomorrows, is even better. Matthew 6:27 is a favorite verse: Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it? Or Matthew 6:31-34: So do not start worrying: "Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?" (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things. So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings. Amen to that!
Monday, May 09, 2005
It has been a while since I wrote. Not because anything major happened - on the contrary; nothing much has happened! Last week was pretty much the same ol' stuff. Yesterday for Mother's Day we didn't even do much. A while back we were given gift certificates to a seafood restaurant nearby, but we hadn't used them yet. This place also has a carryout where you can buy raw seafood, too, so we used the certificates to buy crab meat and I made a pile of crabcakes yesterday. Jerry's mom came over, and it was basically just a laid back kind of day. I feel like I enjoy Mother's Day every day. Although there are times that are trying, I wouldn't trade being a mom for anything in this world. Yesterday was a special day for my boys as well as me, because I get to be their mom every single day.
Having said that, I must tell about something one of my offspring did yesterday. I had planned to have deviled eggs with dinner, so yesterday morning I put both boys to work helping to make them. I had one boy peeling eggs and the other cutting them and removing the yolks. I went about doing other things and walked into the kitchen just in time to see my oldest dumping the entire bowl of hard-boiled egg yolks into the trash. Not believing what I had just seen, I shrieked, "WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!" He turned around with a look of terror on his face because of the decibel level of my shriek, at which point I repeated the question (at the same decibel level, too). He stared blankly at me and said, "You needed those?"
This is the same child who has taught himself everything he knows as far as music goes. This is the same child who was chosen out of the entire county to represent the county in his high school vo-tech computer animation competition. This is the same child who was asked by the local college to give a presentation to incoming students because at 17 he was maintaining an "A" average in college, while attending high school at the same time. This is the same child who gives guitar lessons to a student who speaks Japanese, thought the language was wonderful, and so bought a textbook and has been teaching himself to speak and write Japanese. Alas, this is also the same child who got a tattoo instead of a mattress, and threw the filling away for the deviled eggs. Well, on the positive side, he will never forget how to make deviled eggs now.
As usual, I am a day late and a dollar short. My day got away from me yesterday and when I was going to call my own mother, I was shocked to realize it was 8:40 at night. It wasn't that I forgot - my day just sped by and was gone before I knew it. I sent a card which I do hope arrived in time, but I could have made more of an effort to call at a decent time. Her birthday is coming up shortly - I shall have to redeem myself. Mom, if you read this, Happy Belated Mother's Day - I love you very, very much, and I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday, in spite of your middle child.
Having said that, I must tell about something one of my offspring did yesterday. I had planned to have deviled eggs with dinner, so yesterday morning I put both boys to work helping to make them. I had one boy peeling eggs and the other cutting them and removing the yolks. I went about doing other things and walked into the kitchen just in time to see my oldest dumping the entire bowl of hard-boiled egg yolks into the trash. Not believing what I had just seen, I shrieked, "WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!" He turned around with a look of terror on his face because of the decibel level of my shriek, at which point I repeated the question (at the same decibel level, too). He stared blankly at me and said, "You needed those?"
This is the same child who has taught himself everything he knows as far as music goes. This is the same child who was chosen out of the entire county to represent the county in his high school vo-tech computer animation competition. This is the same child who was asked by the local college to give a presentation to incoming students because at 17 he was maintaining an "A" average in college, while attending high school at the same time. This is the same child who gives guitar lessons to a student who speaks Japanese, thought the language was wonderful, and so bought a textbook and has been teaching himself to speak and write Japanese. Alas, this is also the same child who got a tattoo instead of a mattress, and threw the filling away for the deviled eggs. Well, on the positive side, he will never forget how to make deviled eggs now.
As usual, I am a day late and a dollar short. My day got away from me yesterday and when I was going to call my own mother, I was shocked to realize it was 8:40 at night. It wasn't that I forgot - my day just sped by and was gone before I knew it. I sent a card which I do hope arrived in time, but I could have made more of an effort to call at a decent time. Her birthday is coming up shortly - I shall have to redeem myself. Mom, if you read this, Happy Belated Mother's Day - I love you very, very much, and I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday, in spite of your middle child.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Let the Games Begin!
Yesterday's track meet was a lot of fun. The kids really enjoyed themselves, and we could not have asked for a more beautiful day. After Andy's class returned to the school, they had Chick-Fil-A nuggets waiting for them for lunch in the classroom. Jerry and I drove to the high school to meet Andy's class there, then afterwards I dropped Jerry off at home and had to go back to the school for the rest of the day to do my regular Tuesday stuff there. It was a very long day, but a fun one. All three of us got sun on our faces which is stinging a little this morning, but we'll live! I'll bet there were a lot of tired fifth graders in this county last night. There were tired people right here in this house last night! That was just the beginning of what will be a very busy May and June for Andy's class. In two weeks they will be going on their fifth grade boat trip. Then two days after that they are going to the nature park near here to study oysters. After that they have their fifth grade luau, then a few days later is their movie day which is when all of the fifth grade classes from the school will be going to the theater to see Madagascar. In between all of this they will be learning about the birds and the bees. Maybe the kids will be too tired from all the trips and activities to really pay attention! I can only hope.....!
Monday, May 02, 2005
Picture Day Again - And Again - And Again......
Remember when Picture Day at school was a one-day thing? You were given a little black plastic comb, waited in line, had your picture taken and went back to your classroom. When your pictures arrived, of course your parents bought them - then embarrassed you by displaying them. That's how it was done. Woe to the child who was absent on Picture Day. You had a blank space in your school scrapbook of pictures for that year. Well, times have definitely changed, and not for the better. Photographers have figured out that a parent will buy anything that has their child's picture on it - not because they need more pictures of their child, but because of the guilt factor associated with not buying pictures of their child. So far this year there have been three Picture Days at Andy's school - or, as the wealthy photography company puts it, "Photo opportunities".
The photography company must know that parents are getting a little tired of buying pictures of their offspring, so they've changed their tactics once you get past the very first Picture Day. Now they take pictures of your child whether you ask for them or not, then print them and send them home with a payment envelope "If you want these precious keepsakes of your child". Boy, have they got you. If I don't buy these "precious keepsakes of my child", will this precious child be telling that fact to a therapist ten years from now? Not only are there pictures in the package but bookmarks, keychain pictures, calendar cards and last but not least, stickers! Boy howdy - now my precious child can just be with me, at my side, in my wallet, on EVERYTHING I OWN ALL $%#& DAY LONG!
Ahem - excuse the outburst. I must go now and write a check to those dear photographers who keep reminding me what my precious child looks like. Oh well, at least it's cheaper than therapy.
The photography company must know that parents are getting a little tired of buying pictures of their offspring, so they've changed their tactics once you get past the very first Picture Day. Now they take pictures of your child whether you ask for them or not, then print them and send them home with a payment envelope "If you want these precious keepsakes of your child". Boy, have they got you. If I don't buy these "precious keepsakes of my child", will this precious child be telling that fact to a therapist ten years from now? Not only are there pictures in the package but bookmarks, keychain pictures, calendar cards and last but not least, stickers! Boy howdy - now my precious child can just be with me, at my side, in my wallet, on EVERYTHING I OWN ALL $%#& DAY LONG!
Ahem - excuse the outburst. I must go now and write a check to those dear photographers who keep reminding me what my precious child looks like. Oh well, at least it's cheaper than therapy.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Not much happening these past few days. Andy was up most of the night Wednesday with pollen-related general yuckiness. I wish he had told me he wasn't feeling well. Instead, he got up and got himself some water, turned on his light and sat up reading most of the night. If he had awakened me I could have given him Benadryl to help him sleep, but he said he didn't want to bother me. So, at 4:30 when I got up and saw him still awake, I gave him Benadryl then, knowing full well that he'd be too unconscious to get up for school at 7:00! I just let him sleep and he slept until 9:30. I'm a stickler for not giving medicine for every little thing. I honestly believe it keeps everyone healthier to let your body do the fighting, if it can. Too many people take medicine for every little ache and pain, and your body doesn't even have a chance to try to defend itself, and so no antibodies to anything get built up. I feel the same way about seasonal allergies. I know people suffer with them, but pollen has been around longer than people have! I'm quite sure the first settlers didn't go running to Ye Olde General Store for Claritin. I just think that we are in too much of a hurry to "get on with our day", and will take something to feel better so we can do that, instead of just taking it easy a day or two while your body builds up defenses. I guess I'm doing something right - Andy hasn't been to the doctor's for two years and that was when he caught scarlet fever when it was going around school. When his temperature went from 99 to 103 in the space of an hour and he became too drowsy to talk to us I knew this was not the time to let his body fight by itself. Tom hasn't been to the doctor's for three years, and that was when he developed a fluid sac around the screws in the top of his leg and it was too painful for him to even walk. We are blessed with good health and a family lineage that is the same.
Andy has a track meet on Tuesday that sounds like a lot of fun. Five elementary schools from this area get together at the local high school and spend the day running races and doing different sporting events. Each school competes against the others. It is only for the fifth graders of each school. They will be doing that until 1:00, then they return to school for a lunch catered by Chick-Fil-A. Sounds like a great day! All of the fifth graders from Andy's school were given a T-shirt that the school had made up with all the fifth graders' signatures on it and that has their school name on the front. The fifth grade teachers got together and gave me one too! I will proudly wear it on Tuesday as I cheer my son on! He has signed up for a few of the races. They had to sign up in advance for what events they wanted to participate in so there wouldn't be complete chaos on Tuesday.
We went to Jerry's mom's house on Thursday night for his birthday dinner. Unlike my birthday dinner (steak and macaroni and cheese - which, I might add I haven't had since I was a kid - and miss very much), we had roast beef and lots of other good stuff. Of course there was cake and ice cream, too. Tom wasn't able to make it because he had lessons Thursday night. He is doing very well at work. All of his lesson slots are filled because so many people have requested him for their teacher, and now he has been put in charge of instrument repairs at their repair shop, too. He has gotten raises commensurate with all of this too and is doing very well financially. He seems to have a real talent for all things musical, from playing music to building or repairing instruments. He is self-taught in all of this too which is very remarkable, I think. But then again, I am his mother and could be just a tad biased!
Today is a rainy day and so I think I will finish my work, try to do some decluttering and sorting, and maybe work on the blanket that I'm crocheting. Needless to say, we decided not to go to West Virginia this weekend. We thought that it wouldn't be much fun traipsing around in the rain for two out of three days looking at land. We are getting things lined up around here though in order to sell the house. The electrician came by last week and is going to be finishing the electric in the garage sometime soon. The plumber came by yesterday and told Jerry what he needed to get in order for him to put a shower in the downstairs bathroom. This also involves moving a wall in the adjoining laundry room and moving the water heater, washer, dryer, and refrigerator that are in there. Tom said that we're going to fix this place up so that we won't want to move! Nah... THAT will never happen.
Andy has a track meet on Tuesday that sounds like a lot of fun. Five elementary schools from this area get together at the local high school and spend the day running races and doing different sporting events. Each school competes against the others. It is only for the fifth graders of each school. They will be doing that until 1:00, then they return to school for a lunch catered by Chick-Fil-A. Sounds like a great day! All of the fifth graders from Andy's school were given a T-shirt that the school had made up with all the fifth graders' signatures on it and that has their school name on the front. The fifth grade teachers got together and gave me one too! I will proudly wear it on Tuesday as I cheer my son on! He has signed up for a few of the races. They had to sign up in advance for what events they wanted to participate in so there wouldn't be complete chaos on Tuesday.
We went to Jerry's mom's house on Thursday night for his birthday dinner. Unlike my birthday dinner (steak and macaroni and cheese - which, I might add I haven't had since I was a kid - and miss very much), we had roast beef and lots of other good stuff. Of course there was cake and ice cream, too. Tom wasn't able to make it because he had lessons Thursday night. He is doing very well at work. All of his lesson slots are filled because so many people have requested him for their teacher, and now he has been put in charge of instrument repairs at their repair shop, too. He has gotten raises commensurate with all of this too and is doing very well financially. He seems to have a real talent for all things musical, from playing music to building or repairing instruments. He is self-taught in all of this too which is very remarkable, I think. But then again, I am his mother and could be just a tad biased!
Today is a rainy day and so I think I will finish my work, try to do some decluttering and sorting, and maybe work on the blanket that I'm crocheting. Needless to say, we decided not to go to West Virginia this weekend. We thought that it wouldn't be much fun traipsing around in the rain for two out of three days looking at land. We are getting things lined up around here though in order to sell the house. The electrician came by last week and is going to be finishing the electric in the garage sometime soon. The plumber came by yesterday and told Jerry what he needed to get in order for him to put a shower in the downstairs bathroom. This also involves moving a wall in the adjoining laundry room and moving the water heater, washer, dryer, and refrigerator that are in there. Tom said that we're going to fix this place up so that we won't want to move! Nah... THAT will never happen.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Time Is Flying!
Where is the time going? And why does it seem that the older I get, the faster time goes by? I don't like it - no, sir - I don't like it one bit! The phone rang yesterday morning and the caller ID screen read "United States Government". Hmm...maybe I should answer this, I thought. Turns out it was a Sgt. Kinney from the U.S. Marines who wanted to know what my soon-to-be-19-year-old son planned to do with his future. I guess Marines don't have a sense of humor - or at least this Marine didn't. When he asked me if my son had considered a career in the Marines, jokingly I gasped and said "You want to take MY BOY!!!!". After a moment, Sgt. Kinney said, "No, ma'am. I assure you I do not want to take your boy." Then I laughed and said, "It's okay. Actually there are times when I'd like to bring him to you!". Again, a silence for a moment, then a serious "Yes, ma'am". Hoo, boy. Tough crowd! Oh, well. I guess a Marine with a sense of humor is an oxymoron. Like civil war.
If it wasn't upsetting enough to be reminded that MY BOY is going to be 19 soon, yesterday at school the teachers asked me to sort the Family Life books that they will be using to teach in the next few weeks. I took a look through one of the books - and had to stifle a shriek of terror. It's the birds and the bees! OH NO!!!!! Not my OTHER BOY! He's not ready for this. I'M not ready for this.
Now, we are trying to decide what to do for Jerry's birthday tomorrow. School is closed on Friday and we had originally talked about going to West Virginia to look for property, but we're not sure what we're going to do just yet. In any case, Jerry's mother said she wanted to at least go to dinner or something tomorrow night if we don't go to the mountains. Another year older for him. Actually, I don't mind his birthdays. Since he is six months older than I am, I have six whole months to tease him about being old! For some reason my mother used to always confuse Jerry's birthday with the birthday of Porky, a dog we had when I was growing up. I wonder if there's something subconscious going on there about what she really thinks of him?!
Well, Andy will be finishing elementary school in about six weeks, Tom will be turning 19 in a while, Jerry turns another year old tomorrow, and I'm getting more gray by the day (larger, too!). Time really does fly, doesn't it? I can remember being 12 and wanting to be 13 so I could wear mascara, and mom saying "Don't wish your life away". I remember being 15 and wanting to be 16 so I could drive, and mom saying "Don't wish your life away". I remember being 17 and wishing I was 18 so I could get married, and mom saying "Don't wish your life away". Now I'm really understanding the wisdom of those words, and telling my boys the very same thing.
If it wasn't upsetting enough to be reminded that MY BOY is going to be 19 soon, yesterday at school the teachers asked me to sort the Family Life books that they will be using to teach in the next few weeks. I took a look through one of the books - and had to stifle a shriek of terror. It's the birds and the bees! OH NO!!!!! Not my OTHER BOY! He's not ready for this. I'M not ready for this.
Now, we are trying to decide what to do for Jerry's birthday tomorrow. School is closed on Friday and we had originally talked about going to West Virginia to look for property, but we're not sure what we're going to do just yet. In any case, Jerry's mother said she wanted to at least go to dinner or something tomorrow night if we don't go to the mountains. Another year older for him. Actually, I don't mind his birthdays. Since he is six months older than I am, I have six whole months to tease him about being old! For some reason my mother used to always confuse Jerry's birthday with the birthday of Porky, a dog we had when I was growing up. I wonder if there's something subconscious going on there about what she really thinks of him?!
Well, Andy will be finishing elementary school in about six weeks, Tom will be turning 19 in a while, Jerry turns another year old tomorrow, and I'm getting more gray by the day (larger, too!). Time really does fly, doesn't it? I can remember being 12 and wanting to be 13 so I could wear mascara, and mom saying "Don't wish your life away". I remember being 15 and wanting to be 16 so I could drive, and mom saying "Don't wish your life away". I remember being 17 and wishing I was 18 so I could get married, and mom saying "Don't wish your life away". Now I'm really understanding the wisdom of those words, and telling my boys the very same thing.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Not a lot has been happening, and not a lot of thoughts rolling around in my head lately, either! Sometimes something will happen, or I'll see something and think "BLOG!", but nothing blogworthy has happened recently. Well, except for what we like to call the "meringue pie incident". Luckily, I was the first one to taste it, and quickly quarantined the pie before it did any further damage.
The volunteer lunch at school was very nice. There was a lot of food! There were platters of meats and cheeses, every kind of salad you could think of, including garden salad, pasta salad, tuna salad, broccoli salad, macaroni salad, potato salad, and probably some others that I'm forgetting. They had a place called Mom's in the Kitchen cater it. I didn't even know this place existed - now if only they had delivery service......!
The knitting is going okay. I'm still practicing that, but I got itchy to create something, so I fell back on the old crochet standby. Yarn has certainly changed from back in the day! I found a wonderfully nubbly, thick and soft yarn that I am crocheting a blanket with. I also bought some yarn that isn't actually yarn at all - it's more like feathers on a string. I have ordered some chenille yarn and I can't wait to make something out of that! I ordered from Knitting Warehouse. I have never ordered anything from there before, but their prices were even better than Wal-Mart, and they seemed to have good reviews. We'll see when the goods arrive!
Andy graduated from D.A.R.E. on Friday. He proudly wore his T-shirt home. DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. A police officer has been teaching the fifth graders for the last month or so. Andy has really learned a lot. He would come home every evening and tell us facts and statistics, and why Jerry really needs to quit smoking! I was touched by the essay he chose to write. At the end of the DARE course in addition to taking a written test, you had to write an essay about anything you wanted to, but in some way it had to incorporate what you learned. Andy chose to write a letter to Jerry asking him to quit smoking, and giving him what I thought were darn good reasons to! It was a very well-written essay.
Jerry is back on the eastern shore today. Yes, again. The latest on the trailer saga goes like this: Jerry took the trailer to another trailer manufacturer to get their opinion. The man there told Jerry he couldn't and wouldn't fix it, because to begin with the trailer was over-wide, which accounts for the no clearance problem with the wheels, and why they are rubbing the box of the trailer and tearing up the tires. This man told Jerry that there are legal specifications and measurements that trailers need to be, and that this one was over-wide and, therefore, illegal. He suggested the name of an attorney who is very knowledgeable about trailer stuff for Jerry to talk to. Well, this attorney confirmed that indeed Jerry's trailer was oversized and therefore illegal to have on the road, but that he couldn't help because it would be a conflict of interest for him as he represented the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers on a case before, and the company who made Jerry's trailer is a member of this. Have I lost you yet?! This attorney suggested we contact our own attorney and see what could be done. Before doing that, though, Jerry took his trailer to the Department of transportation police and asked them to inspect his trailer. We were really hoping that he wasn't going to leave there was a pile of citations! They were very nice and helpful, but they did inform Jerry that the trailer was illegal, and that he could very well be stopped and either ticketed, or the trailer would have to be parked until Jerry proved that he fixed it to within size specifications. And no, they didn't give him any tickets! When he got home from there, Jerry called our attorney here and explained the situation. The attorney asked Jerry to write a letter outlining everything, and bring it to him where he would refine it and send it to everyone involved and try to get something done without having to take it to court. Jerry, being the nice guy that he is, and not being the litigious type, decided to give the trailer people one more chance. When he called them and told that what he had found out between all of the people I mentioned above, they were suddenly willing to talk with him. Well, that proved to be useless. He went all the way over there this morning and the guy representing the company just kept saying that he sees oversized trailers all over the place, and didn't see what the big deal was. The big deal is that this trailer is unusable to Jerry as it is, because it can't hold any weight without rubbing the tires and burning off the backs of them because the thing is just too wide! The trailer company representative is either very stupid or is just playing the part, but in any case he just could not get it that something needed to be done, and that it was not our fault that we bought a trailer that turned out to be useless because it was built wrong. Jerry already started the letter that goes to the attorney for fine-tuning, and will be dropping that off tomorrow, I imagine. It is amazing to me how no one is willing to take responsibility for anything anymore. Everyone just pushes the blame off on someone or something else, instead of having some character and integrity. Those are hard traits to find in people these days. Well, I could go on and on about stupid people, but I think I've written enough for one afternoon!
The volunteer lunch at school was very nice. There was a lot of food! There were platters of meats and cheeses, every kind of salad you could think of, including garden salad, pasta salad, tuna salad, broccoli salad, macaroni salad, potato salad, and probably some others that I'm forgetting. They had a place called Mom's in the Kitchen cater it. I didn't even know this place existed - now if only they had delivery service......!
The knitting is going okay. I'm still practicing that, but I got itchy to create something, so I fell back on the old crochet standby. Yarn has certainly changed from back in the day! I found a wonderfully nubbly, thick and soft yarn that I am crocheting a blanket with. I also bought some yarn that isn't actually yarn at all - it's more like feathers on a string. I have ordered some chenille yarn and I can't wait to make something out of that! I ordered from Knitting Warehouse. I have never ordered anything from there before, but their prices were even better than Wal-Mart, and they seemed to have good reviews. We'll see when the goods arrive!
Andy graduated from D.A.R.E. on Friday. He proudly wore his T-shirt home. DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. A police officer has been teaching the fifth graders for the last month or so. Andy has really learned a lot. He would come home every evening and tell us facts and statistics, and why Jerry really needs to quit smoking! I was touched by the essay he chose to write. At the end of the DARE course in addition to taking a written test, you had to write an essay about anything you wanted to, but in some way it had to incorporate what you learned. Andy chose to write a letter to Jerry asking him to quit smoking, and giving him what I thought were darn good reasons to! It was a very well-written essay.
Jerry is back on the eastern shore today. Yes, again. The latest on the trailer saga goes like this: Jerry took the trailer to another trailer manufacturer to get their opinion. The man there told Jerry he couldn't and wouldn't fix it, because to begin with the trailer was over-wide, which accounts for the no clearance problem with the wheels, and why they are rubbing the box of the trailer and tearing up the tires. This man told Jerry that there are legal specifications and measurements that trailers need to be, and that this one was over-wide and, therefore, illegal. He suggested the name of an attorney who is very knowledgeable about trailer stuff for Jerry to talk to. Well, this attorney confirmed that indeed Jerry's trailer was oversized and therefore illegal to have on the road, but that he couldn't help because it would be a conflict of interest for him as he represented the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers on a case before, and the company who made Jerry's trailer is a member of this. Have I lost you yet?! This attorney suggested we contact our own attorney and see what could be done. Before doing that, though, Jerry took his trailer to the Department of transportation police and asked them to inspect his trailer. We were really hoping that he wasn't going to leave there was a pile of citations! They were very nice and helpful, but they did inform Jerry that the trailer was illegal, and that he could very well be stopped and either ticketed, or the trailer would have to be parked until Jerry proved that he fixed it to within size specifications. And no, they didn't give him any tickets! When he got home from there, Jerry called our attorney here and explained the situation. The attorney asked Jerry to write a letter outlining everything, and bring it to him where he would refine it and send it to everyone involved and try to get something done without having to take it to court. Jerry, being the nice guy that he is, and not being the litigious type, decided to give the trailer people one more chance. When he called them and told that what he had found out between all of the people I mentioned above, they were suddenly willing to talk with him. Well, that proved to be useless. He went all the way over there this morning and the guy representing the company just kept saying that he sees oversized trailers all over the place, and didn't see what the big deal was. The big deal is that this trailer is unusable to Jerry as it is, because it can't hold any weight without rubbing the tires and burning off the backs of them because the thing is just too wide! The trailer company representative is either very stupid or is just playing the part, but in any case he just could not get it that something needed to be done, and that it was not our fault that we bought a trailer that turned out to be useless because it was built wrong. Jerry already started the letter that goes to the attorney for fine-tuning, and will be dropping that off tomorrow, I imagine. It is amazing to me how no one is willing to take responsibility for anything anymore. Everyone just pushes the blame off on someone or something else, instead of having some character and integrity. Those are hard traits to find in people these days. Well, I could go on and on about stupid people, but I think I've written enough for one afternoon!
Friday, April 22, 2005
Karen's Household Hint #2
Always check the expiration date on your lemon juice before making a lemon meringue pie. Unless, of course, citrus laxative was your intent in the first place.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
How Politically Correct Can We Get?!
Who thinks up these things? Is there someone who sits in an office thinking of ways to change current terms into "politically correct" ones? It is truly getting ridiculous now. Today I saw a florist's ad reminding everyone to "Remember Administrative Professional's Day!" Excuse me? What, exactly, might that be, I wondered. After a short search I discovered that Administrative Professional's Day is what used to be called Secretary's Day. It seems to me that if everyone was as worried about doing their actual job and doing it correctly, then they would be less worried about the title of said job. Did you know that I'm now a Medical Language Specialist? Yes, the powers that be in the medical field decided that Medical Transcriptionist no longer accurately described the depth of knowledge needed to do that job, and that Medical Language Specialist was to be the new title. I'm glad I wasn't looking for a job recently. I saw an ad for "MLS with extensive ESL". I couldn't figure out what it was. Last I heard, MLS stood for Multiple Listing Service and had to do with the real estate field. By this time I was wondering why this ad was listed in the Healthcare section of the classifieds, and wondering what an ESL was, and why the Multiple Listing Service needed it. I finally figured out what it meant. I'm almost afraid to find out what will be changed next.
This may not be politically correct at all, but I am convinced that we are a society of squirrels. This is what I read in Andy's book about squirrels:
"Usually the male leaves after mating, but sometimes the pair will stay together for a while and even build a nest together. But the male is always gone by the time the babies arrive."
I wonder how many fathers claim temporary squirrelity during their child support trial?!
This may not be politically correct at all, but I am convinced that we are a society of squirrels. This is what I read in Andy's book about squirrels:
"Usually the male leaves after mating, but sometimes the pair will stay together for a while and even build a nest together. But the male is always gone by the time the babies arrive."
I wonder how many fathers claim temporary squirrelity during their child support trial?!
Monday, April 18, 2005
Karen's Household Hint #1
Never, ever try to substitute Dawn dishwashing liquid for Cascade dishwashing powder. Please don't ask me how I know this - just trust me on this one.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Goodbye weekend......sigh...
Another Sunday night. Which means closer to another Monday morning *sigh*....
We didn't do much this weekend. Or rather, I didn't do much this weekend! Jerry, on the other hand, drywalled the garage ceiling and spackled it all, and finished putting the electrical outlets where they need to be. An electrician he knows is supposed to come by sometime this week and connect everything to the house electric. Great - there goes the electric bill again!
All week we have been watching "Band of Brothers" on the History Channel. What a great series this was. Anyone who hasn't seen it really needs to. It was really hard to break away from it to get anything else done while it was on. Then last night they showed the movie "Windtalkers". This was a very good movie. It was about how the Marines used Navajo Indians to be "code talkers" during World War II. The Japanese never broke that code, even though they managed to break every other code used by the military.
I am looking forward to lunch tomorrow. Each year at Andy's school they have a special lunch for the volunteers. In previous years I didn't attend these, but I wasn't aware until last year that the teachers pay for this. Last year when Andy's teacher asked if I was going, I said no at first, but that's when I found out that she helped pay for it, and wanted me to go with her! It was a very nice lunch with lots of great food. I also didn't realize until last year that the teachers you volunteer for go too and you are their "guest". Hmmm.....I volunteer for two teachers this year - can I get two lunches?!
We didn't do much this weekend. Or rather, I didn't do much this weekend! Jerry, on the other hand, drywalled the garage ceiling and spackled it all, and finished putting the electrical outlets where they need to be. An electrician he knows is supposed to come by sometime this week and connect everything to the house electric. Great - there goes the electric bill again!
All week we have been watching "Band of Brothers" on the History Channel. What a great series this was. Anyone who hasn't seen it really needs to. It was really hard to break away from it to get anything else done while it was on. Then last night they showed the movie "Windtalkers". This was a very good movie. It was about how the Marines used Navajo Indians to be "code talkers" during World War II. The Japanese never broke that code, even though they managed to break every other code used by the military.
I am looking forward to lunch tomorrow. Each year at Andy's school they have a special lunch for the volunteers. In previous years I didn't attend these, but I wasn't aware until last year that the teachers pay for this. Last year when Andy's teacher asked if I was going, I said no at first, but that's when I found out that she helped pay for it, and wanted me to go with her! It was a very nice lunch with lots of great food. I also didn't realize until last year that the teachers you volunteer for go too and you are their "guest". Hmmm.....I volunteer for two teachers this year - can I get two lunches?!
Friday, April 15, 2005
TGIF!
Friday at last! It hasn't been a bad week, but I do love Fridays! I feel like a kid again, getting to stay up late on Friday nights! Oh sure - I can do that any night of the week, but then I'd be miserable and make everyone around me the same way. Instead of staying up late reading tonight, I might pick up my knitting again. A friend and neighbor showed me a beautiful scarf she had knitted and it inspired me to learn how to knit. It's slow going, but I'm making some progress - at least after four days it's starting to look recognizable as knitting! I am, however, hearing knit 1, purl 1 in my sleep.
I was on a roll baking today - pun intended! I have a recipe for soft pretzels and Andy had asked for those, so I made a batch of those today. I need to find a new recipe, though. These didn't turn out tasting very much like the kind you get at a store. They were good, but could have been better. I use my bread machine for just about every kind of dough - so much easier.
The pretzels were made after I had baked a cake at 6:30 this morning. Strange, I know, but what a great way to heat the kitchen! It was cold in the house this morning, and I wasn't going to start a fire just for a few hours. We have a practically brand-new heat pump, but I refuse to use it. Energy efficient, my eye! Well, perhaps it is, but with our electric rates it's just very expensive to use. Everyone got a letter from the electric company in January informing us that our electric rate was going up 23%. That's a LOT! We had used the heat pump for only about five days during the last billing period, and kept a fire going the rest of the time, but I almost fainted when we got our electric bill - $251.00 for one month. Everyone around here was in shock. The lady in front of us got a bill for $200.00 - and she lives alone! The neighbors next to us got a bill for $280.00. They just built an addition to their house and weren't even in that yet, so they are dreading their bill when they actually move into the new part. So anyway, to take the chill out of the kitchen before it was time for Andy to get up, I baked a cake.
The neighbor that built the addition gave me a wonderful present today. It is a half-pint milk bottle that has "Chestnut Farms, Chevy Chase Dairy, Washington, D.C." embossed on one side, and "Safe Milk For Babies" on the other. I love it! She has a daycare in her home (hence the addition!), and sometimes I get the children off the bus for her since I'm there getting Andy anyway, and this was a thank-you gift for helping. Her husband works for a company who does a lot of excavating around here, and he finds treasure troves of stuff like this. She has quite an extensive collection of wonderful old bottles. If my camera starts to behave, I will try to take a picture of the bottle.
Well, on to my Friday evening...life is good!
I was on a roll baking today - pun intended! I have a recipe for soft pretzels and Andy had asked for those, so I made a batch of those today. I need to find a new recipe, though. These didn't turn out tasting very much like the kind you get at a store. They were good, but could have been better. I use my bread machine for just about every kind of dough - so much easier.
The pretzels were made after I had baked a cake at 6:30 this morning. Strange, I know, but what a great way to heat the kitchen! It was cold in the house this morning, and I wasn't going to start a fire just for a few hours. We have a practically brand-new heat pump, but I refuse to use it. Energy efficient, my eye! Well, perhaps it is, but with our electric rates it's just very expensive to use. Everyone got a letter from the electric company in January informing us that our electric rate was going up 23%. That's a LOT! We had used the heat pump for only about five days during the last billing period, and kept a fire going the rest of the time, but I almost fainted when we got our electric bill - $251.00 for one month. Everyone around here was in shock. The lady in front of us got a bill for $200.00 - and she lives alone! The neighbors next to us got a bill for $280.00. They just built an addition to their house and weren't even in that yet, so they are dreading their bill when they actually move into the new part. So anyway, to take the chill out of the kitchen before it was time for Andy to get up, I baked a cake.
The neighbor that built the addition gave me a wonderful present today. It is a half-pint milk bottle that has "Chestnut Farms, Chevy Chase Dairy, Washington, D.C." embossed on one side, and "Safe Milk For Babies" on the other. I love it! She has a daycare in her home (hence the addition!), and sometimes I get the children off the bus for her since I'm there getting Andy anyway, and this was a thank-you gift for helping. Her husband works for a company who does a lot of excavating around here, and he finds treasure troves of stuff like this. She has quite an extensive collection of wonderful old bottles. If my camera starts to behave, I will try to take a picture of the bottle.
Well, on to my Friday evening...life is good!
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Walls CAN Talk!
Andy bought two new posters at the book fair last week. Looking around his room after he had put them up on his wall made me think about posters past and present, and gender differences in poster tastes. It seems to me that in choosing adornments for their walls, girls favor boys, and boys favor cars. I'm not sure that this ever really changes post-adolescence, either ! Tom has posters of guitar players and cars on his walls. Andy has posters of video game characters and cars on his walls. Not a female in sight.
What a difference from my friends and I when we were growing up. I had posters of David Cassidy, and then later on it was Peter Frampton who adorned my walls. One of my friends had her room plastered with pictures of Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson. We would cut pictures out of Tiger Beat magazine and add to our already-cluttered walls. Another friend was not allowed to put anything on her walls - she had a lighted, framed picture of John F. Kennedy on her wall. I always thought that was a little weird.
Before cable television and internet where there is instant access to pictures of the current crush-of-the-month, we had to rely on trying to catch our faves on a television show, or waiting for the next issue of a teen magazine to come out. Times have changed, but the need for surrounding ourselves with things that interest us hasn't - it has only matured to match our grown-up interests. Well, for most of us anyway. How else can you explain the fact that women hang pictures depicting beauty, such as flowers, while men hang pictures of poker-playing dogs?!
What a difference from my friends and I when we were growing up. I had posters of David Cassidy, and then later on it was Peter Frampton who adorned my walls. One of my friends had her room plastered with pictures of Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson. We would cut pictures out of Tiger Beat magazine and add to our already-cluttered walls. Another friend was not allowed to put anything on her walls - she had a lighted, framed picture of John F. Kennedy on her wall. I always thought that was a little weird.
Before cable television and internet where there is instant access to pictures of the current crush-of-the-month, we had to rely on trying to catch our faves on a television show, or waiting for the next issue of a teen magazine to come out. Times have changed, but the need for surrounding ourselves with things that interest us hasn't - it has only matured to match our grown-up interests. Well, for most of us anyway. How else can you explain the fact that women hang pictures depicting beauty, such as flowers, while men hang pictures of poker-playing dogs?!
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Too Much Me!
I have been having fun trying on clothes - right here at home! I found this virtual model site, and it's been a lot of fun. It is definitely an eye-opener as far as seeing yourself as others see you (when you are honest and enter the information as you really are!). It's also fun to see what you would look like heavier or lighter, too. I realized that there are just some things that, uh, larger women shouldn't wear, and that horizontal stripes can make one look like a barge!
Andy showed me a fun site today, too. You get to design your own roller coaster, but it takes some thinking to make it work. We adjusted the gravity too light and had the car flying (literally!) off the track!
We are enjoying the weekend - not really doing much, even though there's lots to be done. Maybe tomorrow.........
Andy showed me a fun site today, too. You get to design your own roller coaster, but it takes some thinking to make it work. We adjusted the gravity too light and had the car flying (literally!) off the track!
We are enjoying the weekend - not really doing much, even though there's lots to be done. Maybe tomorrow.........
Thursday, April 07, 2005
In The Blink Of An Eye
It amazes me how quickly someone's life can change, or be taken away. Jerry is in Delaware today to have his trailer fixed. He bought his trailer there last year and has had lots of problems with it. He was looking underneath it and saw numbers on the axles; the front axle said "7" and the back axle said "6". Well, it turns out that the trailer is supposed to have two "7" (meaning 7000 pounds) axles on it, and somebody from the factory goofed. This is after Jerry had already taken it back once where they said they fixed it (but didn't). After many, many phone calls, Jerry finally got them to agree that they were responsible for putting the wrong axle in it when building it, and agreed to replace the axle with a new one, which is why he is there today. That's not the whole problem, though, and now he is waiting for someone to fix the entire thing or he told them they could have it back. The backs of the wheels on the trailer are less than half an inch away from the body of the trailer, and the last time Jerry carried a load on the trailer, the wheels rubbed on the metal body and melted the rubber off the back of the tires. After checking with several people and looking at the wheel clearance on other trailers, it was determined by the salesman, distributor and factory rep that something was indeed wrong and that maybe the trailer wasn't built to the right size specifications. Now it seems that everyone just keeps passing the buck on this problem and no one seems to want to take responsibility for fixing it; the salesman said to call the distributor; the distributor said to call the factory representative; the factory representative won't return anyone's calls. In summary, Jerry has planted himself at the trailer place where they replaced the one axle and has told them he's not leaving until someone fixes the other problem, too. (I fully expect a phone call asking for bail any moment now!).
Anyway, that explains why he is there. He called me a little while ago and said that while he was waiting there at the trailer place he saw a lot of commotion going on at the building right next to where he was. Then he saw a helicopter land there in the parking lot. One of the people working at the trailer place told Jerry that they had heard shots just a few minutes before and apparently someone had been shot right next to the building where Jerry was. While he was telling me this, I got on the internet to see if I could find out anything about it, and I found this article which explains it. It's difficult to think about the fact that we go about our everyday lives, never realizing that things can change in an instant. I am praying for those who were shot today, and as sappy as it might sound, I am also treasuring my family just a little bit more today, and thanking God that Jerry wasn't in that part of the parking lot at that particular time.
The people at the trailer place have to know by now that he is serious about getting the problem resolved; despite police and television crews swarming the area and skittish people ducking into buildings at the slightest sound, he's still there waiting, standing his ground! (I do hope someone is kind enough to provide him with a blanket should it become quitting time this evening and he's still there!)
Anyway, that explains why he is there. He called me a little while ago and said that while he was waiting there at the trailer place he saw a lot of commotion going on at the building right next to where he was. Then he saw a helicopter land there in the parking lot. One of the people working at the trailer place told Jerry that they had heard shots just a few minutes before and apparently someone had been shot right next to the building where Jerry was. While he was telling me this, I got on the internet to see if I could find out anything about it, and I found this article which explains it. It's difficult to think about the fact that we go about our everyday lives, never realizing that things can change in an instant. I am praying for those who were shot today, and as sappy as it might sound, I am also treasuring my family just a little bit more today, and thanking God that Jerry wasn't in that part of the parking lot at that particular time.
The people at the trailer place have to know by now that he is serious about getting the problem resolved; despite police and television crews swarming the area and skittish people ducking into buildings at the slightest sound, he's still there waiting, standing his ground! (I do hope someone is kind enough to provide him with a blanket should it become quitting time this evening and he's still there!)
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
View From The Swing
What a beautiful day it is today. After everything was done inside, I went outside to sit on the swing in the front yard. I love my swing. Jerry gave it to me for my birthday two years ago, and it's one of my favorite places to be. I brought a book outside with me, but the world around me held my attention too much for me to pay attention to the book.
I saw that the blossoms on the plum tree were beginning to open up. I noticed how the grass had grown so quickly after the last rain, and where there were brown dirt patches before, now there was green. I saw a chalk line drawn across the blue sky as if by an invisible hand. Oh, I know there must have been a plane before it, but I couldn't see the plane; just the line being drawn. I watched two red-tailed hawks fly back and forth bringing items to build a nest in the little patch of woods next to our driveway. One of them was carrying what looked like a very long ribbon in its beak. At least it wasn't a squirrel this time; we have seen them carry whole squirrels in their talons before. As I was pulling into the driveway one day I must have startled a hawk that was carrying a squirrel. Andy and I saw the hawk drop something large. We got out to see what it had dropped, and it was a dead squirrel. The hawk eyed us warily from a tree but didn't come back to retrieve his dinner until we had gone back up to the house.
I watched our old cardinal friend singing in the plum tree. This is a male cardinal who begins at about 7 o'clock every morning pecking at all the mirrors on all the vehicles in the driveway. He should know by now that this is his territory, but he still fights his reflection each and every morning. I saw a goldfinch eat from the thistle feeder. His dull brown winter coat has now changed to bright yellow for the summer. In between enjoying everything around me, I had to keep a close eye on our handicapped cat. I thought he would enjoy the outdoors today, so I brought him outside with me, but he was very busy, and wouldn't stay in one place very long. He acted as though the whole yard was new to him and he had to explore every part of it! When he decided to go around to the side of the house, I decided it was time to go inside. As I was walking around to the back yard, I caught sight of something else that made me glad for days like today - clothes on my clothesline! There is something very peaceful about watching clothes sway gently back and forth, and knowing that when you wear them, they will smell wonderful! In an earlier post I mentioned that I could not live where there were not four distinct seasons; I also could not live where I could not have a clothesline. Some of the new neighborhoods around me won't allow clotheslines as they feel it "detracts from the scenery", but I feel sorry for the people there. They are missing out on one of the simple pleasures of life. One day last week I had hung all of Andy's bedding outside and that night when he went to bed he exclaimed, "Mom! My blanket smells like sunshine!". I like that description very much!
Now that warm weather is here (at least for today), I will finish cleaning the back porch so we can have dinner out there tonight. Maybe I'll leave the clothes on the line until then to provide a little dinner ambiance!
I saw that the blossoms on the plum tree were beginning to open up. I noticed how the grass had grown so quickly after the last rain, and where there were brown dirt patches before, now there was green. I saw a chalk line drawn across the blue sky as if by an invisible hand. Oh, I know there must have been a plane before it, but I couldn't see the plane; just the line being drawn. I watched two red-tailed hawks fly back and forth bringing items to build a nest in the little patch of woods next to our driveway. One of them was carrying what looked like a very long ribbon in its beak. At least it wasn't a squirrel this time; we have seen them carry whole squirrels in their talons before. As I was pulling into the driveway one day I must have startled a hawk that was carrying a squirrel. Andy and I saw the hawk drop something large. We got out to see what it had dropped, and it was a dead squirrel. The hawk eyed us warily from a tree but didn't come back to retrieve his dinner until we had gone back up to the house.
I watched our old cardinal friend singing in the plum tree. This is a male cardinal who begins at about 7 o'clock every morning pecking at all the mirrors on all the vehicles in the driveway. He should know by now that this is his territory, but he still fights his reflection each and every morning. I saw a goldfinch eat from the thistle feeder. His dull brown winter coat has now changed to bright yellow for the summer. In between enjoying everything around me, I had to keep a close eye on our handicapped cat. I thought he would enjoy the outdoors today, so I brought him outside with me, but he was very busy, and wouldn't stay in one place very long. He acted as though the whole yard was new to him and he had to explore every part of it! When he decided to go around to the side of the house, I decided it was time to go inside. As I was walking around to the back yard, I caught sight of something else that made me glad for days like today - clothes on my clothesline! There is something very peaceful about watching clothes sway gently back and forth, and knowing that when you wear them, they will smell wonderful! In an earlier post I mentioned that I could not live where there were not four distinct seasons; I also could not live where I could not have a clothesline. Some of the new neighborhoods around me won't allow clotheslines as they feel it "detracts from the scenery", but I feel sorry for the people there. They are missing out on one of the simple pleasures of life. One day last week I had hung all of Andy's bedding outside and that night when he went to bed he exclaimed, "Mom! My blanket smells like sunshine!". I like that description very much!
Now that warm weather is here (at least for today), I will finish cleaning the back porch so we can have dinner out there tonight. Maybe I'll leave the clothes on the line until then to provide a little dinner ambiance!
Monday, April 04, 2005
Goofing Off
Yes, I'm supposed to be working now, but I just couldn't get into it, so decided to see how the sunrise looked at the different beaches. I use this link to see them.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Time To Build An Ark!
Boy, did we have rain yesterday. Rain water rushed over the rocks that run under a footbridge in the gulley/ravine in our back yard and was like a river with small waterfalls. It would have been a lot nicer to look at if the water hadn't been so muddy. It was fascinating to watch and Andy and I walked outside to look at it. When we got near it the noise was so loud, it was hard to hear each other talk. It was just like a rushing river. I stayed out there a long time just watching it. Andy was having fun tossing small pieces of wood from the wood shed into it and watching them travel. I had intended to get pictures, but after taking three pictures of other things in the yard, my camera started acting up again. I have been using Tom's so long that I had forgotten how persnickety mine can be. Unfortunately Tom had his camera with him, so I had to use my half-working standby. Enjoying the view of the "river" in the ravine took my mind off the fact that there was also likely a "river" going directly into the septic tank again. It was just a week ago that we had the last round of rain water pumped out of it. Sure enough, this morning Jerry informed us that we had to take it easy on the water as the tank was just about full again. This whole area is so soggy and waterlogged. Our neighbors two houses further down the hill from us were having a new septic tank put in, but when the machine dug the hole, the hole kept filling up with water, and then when they put the septic tank in, it kept bobbing in the hole because of the amount of water. And they had waited for an extended dry period to do this, too, so there had been no recent rain. We have city water - it seems to me with all the new building going on here that sewer should be considered, too. Okay, enough complaining!
I am feeling restless or something today. I can't quite put my finger on it. I just feel out of sorts somehow. Maybe it's just been a long week; the first week back to school after vacation, the Terri Schiavo ordeal, the pope's passing, daylight-savings time and staying up late last night - it's probably a combination of all these things! It has certainly been a newsworthy week, anyway. Tom's friend Billy (the drummer) was over yesterday and last night all of us were playing Mario Kart racing together. Boy, those guys can race dirty! I was just trying to concentrate on keeping my go-cart on the track but they were busy shooting turtle shells at everybody else, causing lightning bolts to strike other racers, and putting banana peels out on the track for the racers behind them to hit! Jerry especially seemed to have it in for me! I managed to win a couple of races, but it was through no actual skill on my part, I assure you!
Tom's other friend Steve is home from the hospital now. Tom and his group of friends usually get together and go to dinner on Friday nights and Steve actually went to dinner with them this week. Of course, he still can't drive or get around very easily as he has a hip cast and brace on one leg and one arm in a cast. Apparently when the front of the other car struck the driver's side of Steve's car, the top of his leg at the ball of his hip just popped right out of his hip joint. Tom said his leg didn't break, his hip just totally dislocated and he said the x-ray showed the ball of his hip six inches away from where it was supposed to be. That hurts just thinking about it. Anyway, that's why he's in the leg cast and brace because they did surgery for that and then they had to reconstruct one elbow. Tom said Steve told everyone at dinner Friday that he has a new appreciation for his parents, friends, and life itself, and that he realizes how close he came to losing it all. He is indeed a blessed young man. I don't say lucky, because I don't believe in luck - I believe in blessings as I believe someone is in charge.
Well, now that this daylight-savings thing is upon us, I guess that means dinner time rolls around an hour earlier, so I guess I'd better get with the program. I cooked a big roast last night, so I'll just figure out something to do with that, I guess. I made cinnamon rolls this morning - why can't we just have those?!
I am feeling restless or something today. I can't quite put my finger on it. I just feel out of sorts somehow. Maybe it's just been a long week; the first week back to school after vacation, the Terri Schiavo ordeal, the pope's passing, daylight-savings time and staying up late last night - it's probably a combination of all these things! It has certainly been a newsworthy week, anyway. Tom's friend Billy (the drummer) was over yesterday and last night all of us were playing Mario Kart racing together. Boy, those guys can race dirty! I was just trying to concentrate on keeping my go-cart on the track but they were busy shooting turtle shells at everybody else, causing lightning bolts to strike other racers, and putting banana peels out on the track for the racers behind them to hit! Jerry especially seemed to have it in for me! I managed to win a couple of races, but it was through no actual skill on my part, I assure you!
Tom's other friend Steve is home from the hospital now. Tom and his group of friends usually get together and go to dinner on Friday nights and Steve actually went to dinner with them this week. Of course, he still can't drive or get around very easily as he has a hip cast and brace on one leg and one arm in a cast. Apparently when the front of the other car struck the driver's side of Steve's car, the top of his leg at the ball of his hip just popped right out of his hip joint. Tom said his leg didn't break, his hip just totally dislocated and he said the x-ray showed the ball of his hip six inches away from where it was supposed to be. That hurts just thinking about it. Anyway, that's why he's in the leg cast and brace because they did surgery for that and then they had to reconstruct one elbow. Tom said Steve told everyone at dinner Friday that he has a new appreciation for his parents, friends, and life itself, and that he realizes how close he came to losing it all. He is indeed a blessed young man. I don't say lucky, because I don't believe in luck - I believe in blessings as I believe someone is in charge.
Well, now that this daylight-savings thing is upon us, I guess that means dinner time rolls around an hour earlier, so I guess I'd better get with the program. I cooked a big roast last night, so I'll just figure out something to do with that, I guess. I made cinnamon rolls this morning - why can't we just have those?!
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